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THE 
 
 APOCALYPSE INTERPRETED 
 
 IN THE LIGHT OF 
 
 THE DAY OF THE LORD,' 
 
 REV. JAMES KELLY, M.A., 
 
 MINISTER OF ST. PETER's EPISCOPAL CHAPEL, QUEEN SQUARE, 
 
 ST. JAMES' PARK. 
 
 AUTHOR OF LECTURES ON PROPHECY, ETC. ETC. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 LONDON : 
 JAMES NISBET AND Co 
 
 1851. 
 
crelsea: 
 printed by t. wil3her, manor street, 
 
PREFACE TO VOLUME SECOND. 
 
 In accomplishing a Second Volume of this work, 
 the Author cannot find himself brought so far 
 through his undertaking, amidst much to interrupt, 
 without again recording his thanks to the God 
 of all grace, who has permitted him, however 
 humbly, thus to vindicate the Apocalypse from 
 the cabalistical character so generally assigned to 
 it ; and to show, by actual examination, that the 
 direction in which to look for its fulfilments, lies 
 not in the history of Christendom which is past, 
 and deposited in human records, — but rather in 
 that of Israel, which is yet to come, as rehearsed 
 in the other prophecies of Scripture. 
 
 Of course, this impugning of the popular 
 system of interpretation was not a thing to be 
 brooked by its patrons, and so the Author has 
 had to encounter the measure of animadversion 
 usual on such occasions. Nor does he by any 
 means except to this. Fair discussion, he reflects, 
 is ever promotive of the cause of truth. But in 
 one quarter — the pages of " The Quarterly Journal 
 a 2 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 of Prophecy/'* — he is constrained to say, the 
 censure administered was of so unfair a character, 
 as to render a reply on his part in dispensable, f 
 Hereupon, the Eev. T. E. Birks proved to be the 
 Censor, and again came to the charge ',% which led 
 the Author to rejoin at equal length, but in vain, 
 as regarded the insertion of his letter in the 
 Journal ; for at this stage of the discussion, the 
 Editor, in the exercise of his discretion, declined 
 affording further space to the subject. 
 
 Under these circumstances, especially as the 
 matter seems apposite, the paper in question is 
 now added, and in its original form. Its very 
 purport, as a rejoinder to the arguments of so 
 acute a writer as Mr. Birks, may render it more 
 interesting to the reader : — 
 
 APOCALYPTIC INTERPRETATION. 
 
 To the Editor of The Quarterly Journal of Prophecy. 
 
 Deae Sir, 
 
 I am glad that the writer of the article " On the 
 Scope of the Apocal^^pse" has at length come to the 
 light on the subject of his treatment of my Pamphlet; 
 but I am unaffectedly sorry that he turns out to be 
 Mr. Birks. For, although not enjoying the advantage 
 of his personal acquaintance, I believed that, as an able 
 
 * Vol. i., pp. 38—56. 
 
 + Vol. i., pp. 216—222, 335—341,457-^62, 587—594. Vol. ii., 
 pp. 125—127. 
 
 + Vol. ii., pp. L17— 125, 240—248. 
 
PREFA.CE. V 
 
 man, he could afford to give any adversary fair play, and 
 as a gracious man, none other was to be apprehended 
 from him. Certainly experience, in the present case, 
 has disappointed me. Still, far be it from me to 
 detract from his reputation on either head. I simply 
 put it to him, was it right — was it worthy of him, to 
 review my Pamphlet so severely, and yet suppress all 
 clue to its recognition ? And now what is his defence ? 
 He alleges : — 
 
 " lu suppressing the name, I liave been unfair to myself, rather 
 than to the brother whom I have offended (?) Whoever wished to 
 procure his Pamplilet, could obtain it, as easily as if named, by a 
 line to your Publisher, since Mr. K's works were advertized in the 
 same number; and besides a perusal of it is what was most 
 required for my own vindication from the charge of having written 
 too severely." 
 
 Here, besides the unintelligible clause to which I have 
 annexed a note of interrogation, it is pleaded that my 
 works, including the one under notice, were advertised 
 in the same number of the Journal which contained 
 Mr. Birks' article. But how could this mere accident 
 have influenced Mr. B., who did not know of it till 
 the Journal was published ? Again, how could it be 
 expected that fi'om a general similarity of subject, a 
 reader would identify an unnamed pamphlet with one 
 in a column of advertisements ? And as to his writing 
 to the Publisher of the Journal for information, why 
 should it be thought that the latter would be able to 
 give it? For, surely, books might be reviewed in the 
 Journal, with which he had no connexion as Publisher. 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 Nor, as the case was, could it have occurred to him, as 
 an experienced man, that a work to which the Author's 
 name was full}' attached, was the same with one alluded 
 to, ^\ithout the clue of Author or Publisher, by a 
 respectable reviewer in his own periodical ! I admit, that 
 probably by writing to the Editor, a very inquisitive 
 reader might discover, by a notice in the following 
 number of the Journal, that my Pamphlet was the one 
 alluded to. But was it fair, I ask, was it conformable 
 to precedent for Mr. Birks to so write his review that 
 only readers of this stamp, and after so long an interval, 
 could satisfy themselves on the point. The " secret 
 wound," as Mr. Birks calls it, of which I complain, has 
 been inflicted, I repeat, not on myself, but on the cause 
 of which I am an humble advocate. 
 
 I. But now to turn to the question of Apocalyptic 
 interpretation. I had asserted that the chief use of 
 Prophecy, as issuing from the Divine mind, was to 
 warn and comfort the Church, prior to its fulfilment. 
 Mr. Birks denies this: — "I deny," he writes, " that it 
 (namely, warning before fulfilment,) is ever the j^rmcijml 
 purioosey But how does he prove his position ? By 
 adducing the texts — " Now, I have told you before it 
 come to pass, that when it is come to pass, ye might 
 believe," (John xiv. 29); and — ''These things under- 
 stood not his disciples at the first : but when Jesus was 
 glorified, then remembered they that these things were 
 written of him, and that they had done these things 
 unto him." John xii. 16. Now, taking Mr. B's inter- 
 pretation of these texts, surely they only prove at the 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 utmost, that prophecy is sometimes designed to serve its 
 end after fulfilment. Whereas, the proposition Mr, B. 
 set himself to maintain was, the reader will remember, 
 an universal negative : " i deny that it is ever,'' &g. 
 This is certainly not careful reasoning from such a man 
 as Mr. Birks. But, further, Mr. Birks forgets that to 
 the last of their days of companionship with their Master, 
 the disciples, w^ho were thus addressed, occasionally 
 faltered as to his Messiahship ; and therefore, the 
 assurance of their minds, on this point, by the accurate 
 fulfilment of his predictions, is rather analogous to the 
 bearing of prophecy upon the world. And that it was 
 at such assurance our Lord aimed, in the texts in 
 question, seems plain from another passage obviously 
 parallel, and suggesting their right interpretation: " Now 
 I tell you before it come, that when it is come to pass, 
 ye may believe that I am he.'' John xiii. 19. Hence, 
 unless the Church of God now, is assumed to be in the 
 equivocal position of needing evidence to prove that 
 "Jesus is the Christ," the purport of prophecy to 
 them is not explained by Mr. Birks' references. 
 
 II. By way of shewing the utter incongruity of my 
 principle, Mr. Birks alludes to the case of prophecies 
 early fulfilled, and alleges that, with me, — 
 
 " A purpose termiuating on a few individuals, is of higher import- 
 ance tlian one which affects the whole Church of God throughout 
 every age of the world's history." 
 
 My reply to this is, with Bishop Butler, to whom I must 
 again refer Mr. Birks, that we are not competent judges 
 beforehand of what events it were important for the 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 ^vord of prophecy to treat, nor how numerous the parties 
 it should enlighten. But if Mr. Birks intends (for his 
 meaning here is, I must say, obscure) to make me appear 
 as though I undervalue prophecy, \vhen fulfilled, because 
 I contend that its primary use appertains to a period 
 prior to fulfilment, he is under a mistake. I entertain 
 no such unworthy thought as that any event which has 
 been dignified by being made a subject of recital in the 
 Word of God, should ever lose its interest in our eyes 
 by lapse of time. Sure I am that in the Divine 
 selection of matter, which the Scriptures contain, as in 
 all God's works, there is manifold wisdom, and that 
 reference thereto, throughout the ages to come, wdll be 
 pregnant with profit to even the glorified saint. But this 
 interferes not with such Scriptural matter, possessing a 
 primary advantage, in its simple aspect as prophecy — 
 i.e., as apprizing the saint of the future. Moreover, in 
 whatsoever generation of the Church this latter advantage 
 is realized, the other, — the historical improvement may 
 be, at once, collected. For, the faith that says, " these 
 things shall be,'' can forthwith proceed to treat them as 
 extant and moralize from thepi accordingly. On the 
 other hand, it is obvious that wherever Prophecy has 
 }wt served as a light to the future, but is only a 
 memorial of the past, the advantage accrues from it, 
 not as p)roiihecy, but as history. For, as to the mere 
 comparison of the event with the prediction — from this, 
 it is obvious, no improvement is deiivable beyond the 
 discernment of the Divine prescience ; and such im- 
 provement — to meet again Mr. B.'s remark about 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 important prophecies — is quite independent of the 
 character of the event ; accuracy of correspondence 
 being that alone, which, in this view of the subject, 
 is recognized. Thus, the conformity between prophecy 
 and event in the fact of our Lord's crucifixion between 
 the two thieves, and his interment in the tomb of the 
 rich man, shows the Divine prescience as plainly as 
 when prophecy and event relate to transactions of the 
 most vital import. What is to be objected to, then, in 
 Mr. Birks and the school of writei*s to which he belongs, 
 is that, with the exception of vouching the inspiration 
 of the Scriptures, which is not required by the believer, 
 he accords to prophecy no peculiarity which does not 
 attach to histoiy. Nor will it do for Mr. B. to admit 
 the warning character of the former, and then dismiss 
 it as a comparatively minor object with the Spirit. For 
 whatever tlie estimate formed of it, (and I need not here 
 argue the point,) it is an element which, so far as the 
 believer is concerned, constitutes the essential difference 
 between Prophecy and History ; and to look not for its 
 operation, in our interpretation of the Prophetic Word, 
 is practically to disparage a prominent feature of the 
 Divine wisdom, or to cliarge upon God a vain display of 
 its resources. 
 
 As to the important character of the present period 
 of the world's history, which Mr. Birks maintains, cannot 
 be condemned to prophetic silence, let me remind him 
 that there are significant hints given by God himself 
 that the present age, with all its importance, is not 
 taken into account by Him, in his dealings with the 
 a S 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 world. For example, in the Prophet Isaiah, God calls 
 it ''a small moment,'" as the interval of Israel's rejection: 
 " For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with 
 great mercies will I gather thee." Isaiah liv. 7. 
 
 With this Divine estimate of the last eighteen 
 centuries, (and, precisely I submit, because answering to 
 the idea of a parenthesis,) what a contrast is presented 
 in Mr. Birks' style of allusion to the same period : — 
 " The most essential and mijjortant part of the vast 
 scheme of God's moral government: The history of the 
 Church, in its jyrivileges, and of the world, in its greatest 
 intellectual development, for nearly two thousand years: 
 The ichole dispensation of the Spirit which crowns the 
 previous revelations of God in the immediate preparation 
 for a kingdom of glory.'' 
 
 Surely, from this discrepancy of sentiment, Mr. Birks 
 ought to see that he is not looking at the interval in 
 question in the same relative aspect in which God views 
 it — the very first thing for wiiich the Expositor of 
 Prophecy should consult. 
 
 III. Whereas, I had contended, in reply to Mr. Birks' 
 allegation of the unprofitableness of the Apocalypse, on 
 my view, that it might yet vindicate its character as 
 Prophecy, even if it had not done so already ; but that 
 on Mr. Elliott's view, the time for this is irrevocably 
 past, Mr. Birks now appears to return to the charge, 
 but in reality takes up another position altogether; 
 viz., that to require the Apocalypse thus to vindicate its 
 character as Prophecy, is utterly unreasonable. Surely 
 this mode of discussion is not satisfactory, first to 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 retaliate upon me, that the Futurist system fails in the 
 test that 1 have alleged, thus seeming to admit its 
 applicability to the subject; and then, when the simple 
 answer to this is furnished, to take no notice of it, but 
 affirm such test to be altogether impracticable. Let me 
 examine, however, how Mr. B. comes to this conclusion. 
 His argument is as follows : — 
 
 "We both admit, as an undoubted truth, that the book is a 
 Divine prophecy. Hence, it follows inevitably, that it was either 
 fulfilled long ago, or has been fulfilling through successive ages, or 
 relates to events still future. On the first, or Preterist view, any 
 extensive and lasting use, as mere warning, is plainly impossible. 
 Hence, if it were proved that it has had no extensive and lasting 
 use, as warning to the Church at large, on either of the two other 
 systems, this cannot prove them to be alike erroneous, but only 
 that the principle itself is unsound and inapplicable as a real test, 
 in the case of this prophecy." 
 
 Of the above extract, the first proposition — that the 
 Apocalypse must be interpreted in one of three ways, 
 is sufficiently plain, and I assent to it. But, what 
 follows, I submit, is both ambiguous, and as far as it is 
 intelligible, out of place. For, who is to determine 
 what constitutes an extensive and lasting use of Prophecy 
 as mere warning? Yea, who are we that we should 
 judge how long it belioves a Prophecy to remain 
 unfulfilled in order to this end ? Most certainly I have 
 not pretended that the Church has any such prerogative. 
 All that I have urged is that for some duration or other, 
 warning beforehand is the precise design of prophecy. 
 If it have operated at all in this way, it matters not, 
 according to my humble view, how soon after its 
 
XU PREFACE. 
 
 promulgation, it purports to be fulfilled; and so any 
 interpretation that is advanced answering to this 
 condition, I can legitimately entertain. But where this 
 is wanting, as in Mr. Elliott's Horm A2)ocalyptic<E, 
 there is primd facie evidence, I contend, against any 
 intei'pretation, come from what quarter it may. 
 
 Thus then, it was not " plainly impossible," as 
 Mr. Birks alleges, for the Apocalypse to have vindicated 
 it^ use as prophecy on the first or Preterist view, or 
 indeed, on any view which he has specified. The 
 simple question is, has it done so ? And it suffices me, 
 in regard to Mr. Elliott's system, to observe that he 
 even claims for it nothing of this kind, but admits : — 
 1st, touching the seals, that the establishment of 
 Christianity upon the ruins of Paganism, (the fulfilment 
 of such series of Prophecy, according to him,) was an 
 event, " the contingency of ivhich had never occurred'" to 
 the early Christians ; and 2ndly, touching the teumpets, 
 that the anticipation of their import was " in total 
 contrast'" with his ex post facto discoveries. Surely these 
 are virtual admissions, that, according to Mr. Elliott, 
 these great integral parts of the Apocalypse have not 
 served the pui-pose of warning as unfulfilled prophecy. 
 
 But novv% to apply this test to the Futurist view, 
 I repeat, if, according to it, the Apocal}^se has not 
 proved serviceable as Prophecy in times past, there is 
 still space for it to do so. And when I think of the 
 many children of God whose eyes have been opened 
 of late, on the subject, I cannot but regard such 
 vindication of this precious portion of the Word as 
 
PREFACE. Xlll 
 
 being at band. At all events, tliis mcuj he tbe issue ; 
 and tbus a sufficient reply to Mr. Birks' retaliatory 
 cbarge is taken from the possible future. But, is it 
 not remarkable that, of this reply, which bad been 
 distinctly given in my first letter, Mr. Birks altogether 
 omits notice in his rejoinders, and attributes to me 
 instead, the following travesty of my sentiments by 
 way of paraphrase : — 
 
 " If all the Church had held my view of the Prophecy, and 
 my construction of the title, (a construction demonstrably untrue,) 
 they would all have profited by it as a warning of things still to 
 come. Since ray view is right, it is probable, though no evidence 
 remains of the fact, that simple-minded believers in every age, 
 did embrace it. Hence it satisfies the test of practical and proved 
 utility, as warning far better than the usual systems." 
 
 Of course, having framed for me such an inadequate 
 reply, Mr. B., after his manner, concludes with a 
 flourish :- " The value of such a defence may be safely 
 left to the judgment of your readers." But, I put 
 it to the same court of appeal, has my brother, on 
 this occasion, " striven lawfully" for a verdict ? 
 
 Desirous as I am of confining the controversy as 
 much as possible to the princijdes at issue between 
 Mr. Birks and myself, it will be observed that in 
 the foregoing remarks, I have not cared to contend 
 for the fact of the early Fathers' interpretation of the 
 Apocalypse, harmonizing, in the main, with that of 
 the Futurists. But as Mr. B, admits the existence 
 of a partial resemblance between the two, I cannot 
 forbear noticing how he endeavours to neutralize the 
 
XIV PREFACE. 
 
 value of the fact, by liis argument that " the time 
 anticipated was widely different," inasmuch as the early 
 Fathers looked for the events in question to occur so 
 much earlier : — 
 
 " If I expect," says Mr. B., " an army of liorsemen from the 
 Euphrates withiu ten years, and such an army appears only 
 after a thoiisand years have expired, the expectation is far less 
 practically useful, than if they had come at the expected time, 
 though from the most opposite point of the compass, and with 
 a change in every particular of their martial equipage." 
 
 To this, I reply, that to suit the case in hand, 
 Mr. Birks' comparison needs amendment. It should 
 run thus : — " If I expect an army of horsemen from 
 the Euphrates as an imminent event that may happen 
 wdthin the period of my life-time, and it appears only after 
 a thousand years," &c. And, this being the hypothesis, 
 I ask how has the practical usefulness of the expectation 
 been lost, if it has really led me to watching for evil 
 from the Euphrates ? On the other hand, if no such army 
 ever appear from the Euphrates, but one eventually 
 from " the most opposite point of the compass," shall 
 not all my watching, and that of intervening generations, 
 although manifestly in accordance with the prediction, 
 have been fraught with a mischievous tendency, as 
 being exercised in a wrong direction ? And such is 
 really the deceptive operation which Mr. Bh*ks' system 
 of interpretation assigns to the use of the Apocalypse in 
 early times. In the same strain, Mr. B. continues : — 
 
 " If an almanac-maker predicts rain to-morrow, and claims 
 
PREFACE. XV 
 
 to be a useful i)ropliet, because, altbougii tbe day is fine, it 
 rains on tbe same day in tbe year following, wbo would not 
 laugh his pretensions to scorn ?" 
 
 Here a transition is made, rather confusingly, from 
 the matter in hand, the practical effect of a given 
 prophecy, to the character of genuineness or imposture 
 which the event stamps on the Author. But keeping 
 to the simple point before us, and again mending 
 Mr. B.'s illustration to make it suit, I enquire if — 
 not the almanac-maker, but the husbandman, tnisting 
 the almanac-maker, or rather the God of Providence, — 
 surely expects the seasonable descent of rain on his 
 fields, will he not, animated hereby, labour on until 
 the end ? — and thus, how^ever the blessing be pro- 
 tracted, will it not have been good for him to have 
 waited upon God'^ Now, similar to this, according to 
 the Futmist system of interpretation, should be regarded 
 the legitimate bearing of the Apocaij^pse on successive 
 generations from the beginning. In it was revealed, as 
 impending, "the day of the Lord," that day in w^liich, 
 judgment being to come upon the matured evil of Jew 
 and Gentile, its light was reflected upon the whole 
 period of this dispensation — detecting and exposing 
 to the eye of faith the elements of such evil, viz., the 
 mystery of iniquity continuously working from the 
 Apostles' days. Whether proximate or remote, as to 
 the actual decree of God, the contemplation, as con- 
 tingent, of the consummating events of the Apocalypse, 
 might obviously be thus beneficial to eveiy generation 
 of. the Church. That it was so in the case of the early 
 
XVI PREFACE. 
 
 Fathers adverted to, who recognized these things as at 
 the doors, may not be doubted. If any of them rashly 
 and unwarrantably went beyond this, and committed 
 their hopes to a precise date in their ovm day, they 
 were, of course, chastised by the recoil of disappointment — 
 as may happen to parties similarly erring now. But, 
 surely, it will not be contended by Mr. Birks, that to 
 have gone to the other extreme and set the events 
 of the Apocal}^se at the far off future, or, at least, 
 beyond their times, as Mr. Birks' view would make it 
 right for them to have done, would have been the way 
 to have rendered the book useful and admonitory ! On 
 the contrary, is it not plain, that this course would have 
 tended to banish from their minds all sense of personal 
 concern in the subject; inasmuch as thus the "things 
 to come " could only affect succeeding and remote 
 generations. Hence, I again submit that the Futurist 
 mode of interpretation, not misrepresented, but rightly 
 understood, is that which maintains for the Apocalypse 
 in all ages, its usefulness as prophecy. The admissions 
 of Mr. Elliott, already cited, to the effect that his 
 alleged fulfilments were not anticipated by the Church, 
 but the contrary, may be very inconvenient to his 
 defender. And I should not wonder, if, in a future 
 edition of the Horse, they are withdrawn. Meanwhile 
 I must beg to hold Mr. B. to the litera scripta of his 
 friend, nor can I accept his (Mr. B.'s) unauthorized 
 modifications of the matter. Indeed they are so in- 
 definite, I can scarcely apprehend their force. 
 
 IV. But besides appealing generally to Mr. Elliott's 
 
PREFACE. XVll 
 
 admissions, I had urged in particular, that, according to 
 his interpretation, the eleventh chapter of the Apocalypse 
 must be considered to have been barren as prophecy ; 
 inasmuch as even the Reformers, whose career Mr. E. 
 finds so vividly depicted there, under the head of the 
 two Witnesses, appear not to have made the animating 
 discovery. Hereupon Mr. Birks writes : — 
 
 " I utterly deny tliat Rev. xi. has been barren as pi-opbecy, when 
 referred to the Reformation, and I deny it on the strength of an 
 examination of both earlier and later expositions of wide currency 
 in the Church. In fact, at the time of the Reformation itself, that 
 view was perhaps the most usual in the Reformed Churches." 
 
 Now, far be it from me to question the sincerity or 
 the strength of Mr. Birks' conviction that he has 
 authority on his side for this emphatic disclaimer. But 
 if he means to affirm that he has seen expositions, or 
 even incidental interpretations of the Apocalypse, of a 
 date prior to the Reformatmi, wherein the eleventh 
 chapter is treated as rehearsing the eventful experience 
 of the Reformers, I think it would have been satisfactory 
 to his readers to have had the reference given; nor, 
 under the circumstances, was less explicitness due from 
 Mr. B. For, I had called his attention to the fact of 
 Luther's rejecting the Apocalj^pse from the canon of 
 Scripture, and of Calvin's declining to give a Commentary 
 on it ; and certainly this was not indicative of these 
 servants of God therein discerning the com'se and issue 
 of their arduous labours traced beforehand by the Holy 
 Ghost. I confess, however, my strong conviction, that, 
 not-vsithstanding Mr. B. affirms that 1 " reason in the 
 
XVlll PREFACE. 
 
 teeth of facts on the other side," he really has nothing 
 of this kind to adduce ; and that it will turn out his 
 reliance is on Authors who have written since the Refor- 
 mation. If so, the contradiction which he has given to 
 my position will, Anth all intelligent readers, go for 
 nought, and I must marvel at his inadvertence in 
 urging it. 
 
 V. It will be remembered, by our readers, that 
 Mr. Birks having charged the Futurist scheme of 
 interpretation ^^ith rendering the Apocalypse useless to 
 fonner generations, for that they never applied it to 
 such events as that scheme supposes, I had, hereupon, 
 appealed to him touching his own premillennial expo- 
 sitions of Scripture, such as Isaiah ii. 2, that they 
 might be similarly condemned ; inasmuch as, for so 
 many ages, these Scriptures were never regarded in 
 that light, but taken to refer to the prosperity of the 
 Christian Church under the present dispensation ; and 
 I besought him to forbear employing against his brethren 
 such mere clamour of traditional authority which he 
 would not admit against himself. Now how does Mr. B. 
 reply to this appeal? By asserting that his interpre- 
 tation of the passage specified, (Isa. ii. 2) is inclusive 
 of the long prevailing application of it to the Christian 
 Church ; and therefore, that to the majority of Christians 
 who so regarded it, it cannot be said to have had no 
 prophetic utility. But without stopping to remark the 
 utter inconsistency of a Premillennarian like Mr Birks 
 professing to find the course of our dispensation, which 
 is to end in apostacy and judgment, comprised under a 
 
PREFACE. XIX 
 
 prophecy which only speaks of the progressive triumph 
 of the truth, it is enough for me to observe that here is 
 Mr. Birks' admission that but for this double interpre- 
 tation, my retort against his argument would be just. 
 Accordingly, be it known to all your premillennial readers, 
 that unless they believe with Mr. B., that Isaiah ii. 2, 
 besides its literal reference to the future gloiy of the 
 Jewish nation, contains also a figurative prediction 
 of the spread of the Gospel now, (a view which, 
 I maintain, no ingenuity can make even plausible,) 
 they are guilty, according to Mr. B., of defaming 
 this prophecy, as worse than useless for seventeen 
 centuries — "it has bred nothing but false expec- 
 tations !"=!' But now to fasten my retort upon Mr, B. 
 so that even with his elasticity of interpretation of 
 this passage, he cannot evade it, may I not enquire, 
 is there any prophecy of which he admits his modern 
 and premillennial exposition is inconsistent with the 
 notions lieretofore attached to it by the professing 
 Church ? If there be, — and I suppose he will not 
 contend against this, — then is it not plain, according 
 to his dictum, that such prophecy has been, to the 
 generations in question, an ignis fatuus, instead of the 
 " beacon light" which God intended it to be. 
 
 The fact is, the tendency of Mr. Birks' reasoning is 
 not only suicidal, but explosive of all progress in the 
 knowledge of Scripture. For, every disco veiy of truth 
 may be met with a similar reproach, that former gene- 
 
 ♦ See Mr. Birks' original article. Quarterly Journal of Prophecy, 
 page 39. 
 
XX PREFACE. 
 
 rations of Christians understood the matter differently, 
 and that to admit the new view would be to tax the 
 Scripture adduced, with misleading the many who have 
 gone before us. I do trust Mr. Birks will see the 
 vanity of this line of argument. 
 
 VI. It will be familiar to our readers that to my 
 illustration of the mischief of building on mere 
 hypothesis, taken from the Ptolemaic system of astronomy, 
 Mr. Birks having excepted that such system was, "in its 
 own day, the ripest fruit of inductive enquiry," I rejoined 
 that however such proposition, equivalent in its literal 
 exactness, to ajiy thing being the siq^erlative of Clothing, 
 might be maintained, yet, — that the Ptolemaic system, 
 was not the fruit of inductive enquiiy at all, but of 
 an erroneous hypothesis, (namely, that the earth was 
 the centre of the planetary system,) — was plain from 
 the fact that inductive inquiry put an end to it. There 
 is nothing in this, I need scarcely say, that is not 
 popularly known to every school-boy ; and in pleading 
 it, I made no pretensions to any depth of astronomical 
 knowledge. Would it not then have been more seemly 
 in Mr. B. to have cleared up his remarks, if obscure, 
 which called for this plain elementary statement, than 
 to have flown off to a surmise about my superficial 
 acquaintance with the subject, and a recommendation 
 that I should read Professor Whewell's "History of 
 the Inductive Sciences." And yet, this is the course 
 pursued by Mr. Birks. It would be easy to enlarge 
 upon the spirit thus displayed ; but I forbear. The 
 irrelevancy of the matter is what I care to notice. 
 
PREFACE. XXI 
 
 VII. The next thing to which I have to call attention, 
 is the charge oi " gross misTepresentatioii" and "■manifest 
 error,'" (certainly, hard words) which Mr. B. is pleased 
 to urge against me, for alleging that Mr. Elliott's 
 exposition is built upon hypothesis. Although I have 
 quoted Mr. E's. own admission to this effect, I am 
 guilty of the former. And because I say that his 
 disposal, in an appendix to his second edition, of rival 
 systems of interpretation, is no proof of his own being 
 (not time, for this was not the point, but) properly 
 and inductively pursued, — I am guilty of the latter. 
 Now what are the strong reasons, as they ought to 
 be, by which Mr. B. supports these assertions ? 
 
 (1.) As to the charge of misrepresentation, it resolves 
 itself into my production of ''■garbled evidence,'''' on 
 which he writes as follows : — 
 
 " How then did Mr. Kelly overlook, or why conceal the fact that 
 the three first pages (of Mr. Elliott's preface) are employed in 
 stating his prolonged enquiry on this very subject, the relative 
 truth of the Protestant and Futurist schemes, and his deepened 
 conviction, the result of that enquiry, in favor of the view on which 
 his work is based, with two or three reasons that appear to him 
 decisive in its favor, the words of Rev. iv. 1, and the prophecy of 
 Babylon, with its explanation." 
 
 I observe, in reply, that I did not overlook these 
 statements of Mr. Elliott, rehearsed by his friend ; 
 but I did not see, nor do I now, that they were 
 intended by Mr. Elliott as the substratum of his pre- 
 sumption that the Apocalypse treated of the fortunes 
 of the Roman Empire, from the time of John onward. 
 
 VOL. II. h 
 
XXll PREFACE. 
 
 They occur not even in the same connexion. Nay, 
 further, what Mr. Elliott deduced from them was, 
 simply, " that there must have taken place some 
 more exact fulfilment, in accordance with the year-day 
 principle, of those Apocalyptic Prophecies against the 
 Protestant interpretation of which, previously offered, 
 exception had justly been made."* Thus, Mr. E. 
 recounts how he was led to embark in the construction 
 of a new exposition of the book, and this is intelligible 
 enough. But he says nothing of what suggested to 
 him the presumptions T have called in question. If he 
 had, I should not have failed to quote it. 
 
 (2.) My " manifest error' I now come to consider; and 
 wherein does it lie ? In my argument that Mr, Elliott's 
 showing other systems of Apocalyptic interpretation to 
 be faulty is not equivalent, as Mr. Birks contended, to 
 the justification of his aforesaid hypothesis : — 
 
 " Mr. Elliott," writes Mr. B., " is not reasoning with Infidels, 
 but with Christians, who believe that the work is an inspired 
 prophecy. Now, in this case, only three alternatives are possible, 
 however each may be varied in the specific details : that the pro- 
 phecy was fulfilled soon after it was given, that it has been fulfilling 
 or fulfilled in the long course of intervening ages, or that its 
 fulfilment is still future. If two of these views are disproved, the 
 third is so far plainly established, unless we can believe a work to 
 be an inspired prophecy which neither has been, nor ever will be, 
 fulfilled." 
 
 Here, I would say, is not " manifest" but rather 
 latent error on the part of Mr. Birks. He assumes 
 that Mr. Elliott, in his Appendix, has dealt with the 
 * Original Preface to the Horse Apocalypticae. 
 
PREFACE. XXlll 
 
 principles of the two rival systems of interpretation 
 opposed to him ; in which case, I admit, it would be 
 consistent to argue from the negation of them to the 
 affirmation of his own. But this assumption is a 
 mistake. They are the details of the rival systems, at 
 least of the Futurist one, not its essential principles 
 which Mr. E. has aimed at proving defective; and it is 
 obvious, success here does not leave his principle to be 
 the necessary alternative. All his exceptions that have 
 any force may be admitted, and yet a Futurist system of 
 interpretation be the true one. Nay, further, even if it 
 were admitted that Mr. E, had, in his Appendix, 
 disproved all other principles of interpretation, it would 
 not hence follow that he had legitimately plied his 
 own, and abstained from the employment of gratuitous 
 hypotheses, -svhich is my objection. 
 
 VIII. Mr Birks'original attempt tomeet this objection 
 consisted in the following assertion : — " Whoever objects 
 to them (i. e. Mr. E's presumptions) must be prepared 
 to maintain either that there is no principle of wise 
 selection in the Divine prophecies ; or, that it consists 
 with the Divine wisdom to predict trifling changes 
 rather than the more important." To this I replied 
 that we were not competent to determine beforehand 
 what would constitute a wise selection of events for the 
 roll of prophecy ; and that from the contradiction of fact 
 to human estimation of the important, in Scripture 
 history, w^e ought to apprehend our surely falling into 
 error if we indulged this a 'priori spirit of speculation in 
 regard to the matter of projjhecy. I ventured also to 
 b2 
 
XXIV PREFACE. 
 
 remind Mr. B. of Bishop Butler's exposure of this line 
 of reasoning, as adopted by the Infidel against revelation 
 in general. Hereupon, Mr. Bn'ks maintains that this 
 " is a tacit admission of the truth of the impugned 
 maxims.'' 1 ask what maxims? Surely not Mr. Elliott's 
 hypotheses, which Mr. B. dignifies with this name. 
 From the discussion of these in them-elves, I had 
 turned to Mr. B's defence of them ; and therefore the 
 only maxim that I have allowed by implication, in my 
 adoption of Bishop Butler's argument, is Mr. Birks' 
 own, that there is a wise selection of events in prophecy. 
 And now, maintaining this, w^hich I do equally with 
 Mr. Birks, what is the difference between us, but that 
 he claims to decide beforehand what would be the wise 
 selection for God to make ; while I think it the more 
 becoming course to believe in the Divine wisdom at 
 once, and then reverently to seek to appreciate it by 
 actual examination. Nor can I admit that I have at all 
 misunderstood or misstated Bishop Butler's argument. 
 Indeed it is so plain on this particular point, that the 
 humblest reader may recognize it. 
 
 But Mr. B. objects that an argument suitable to 
 silence an Infidel, may, when addressed to a Christian, 
 " be worthless in the extreme," and applying this to my 
 use of Bishop Butler, he says it is assumed by me that 
 
 "A Christian searching the word of God with humility and prayer, 
 maybe asvoid of spiritual discernment as an Infidel who is inventing 
 reasons for rejecting it." 
 
 Now the exaggeration of Mr. Birks here is too 
 plain to require notice. But, that the child of God, 
 
PREFACE. XXV 
 
 as well as the natural man, may go out of his province, 
 and sit in judgment upon what it behoved God to do, 
 however to he lamented, is not to be deemed incredible, 
 and this is just what has happened in the present case, 
 I conceive, to call for my humble admonition. The 
 Infidel arrogates to himself to determine what the 
 character of revelation, in general, ought to be ; forgetful 
 of his proved incompetency, from the events of creation 
 and providence, to indulge in any preconceived surmise 
 on the subject. Mr. Birks and his friend have similarly 
 erred when— coming ta the study of the Apocalypse, 
 and, overlooking the disaj^pointing contents, to human 
 conjecture of the other Scriptures —they have presumed 
 that such portion of the word, as a mse selection of 
 ervents, must be supposed to foretel the fortunes of the 
 Roman Empire, &c. We remind the Infidel of what 
 obtains in the constitution and course of nature; this 
 silences him. I remind Mr. Birks and his friends of 
 the analogy of the Bible at large ; and why should not 
 this similarly avail with them ? Had he not himself 
 admonished one of his opponents to the same effect : — 
 " it is dangerous for Christian Divines to borrow their 
 shafts against an obnoxious theory from the armouiy 
 of Infidels. "'- 
 
 IX. But I did not content myself Avith negativing 
 Mr. Elliott's gratuitous hypotheses, I endeavoured to 
 gather from the analogy of Scripture those that were 
 legitimate. And this brings me to what is really the 
 grave question in this discussion. Does Prophecy, in 
 * Elements of Proiihecy, 
 
XXVI PREFACE. 
 
 the Old Testament, which, it is admitted, reaches 
 beyond the present dispensation, take in the political 
 revolutions of Christendom ? Does it even more than 
 imply, (and that, by providing room for it) the work 
 of grace that is now going on in the calling of the 
 Church ? If these questions can only be answered 
 in the negative ; in other words, if Old Testament 
 prophecy which has been fulfilled, aiid which remains 
 to be fulfilled, that is, (as I had said, in one word, 
 for the sake of brevity, though it appears unintelligibly 
 to Mr. Birks,) if Old Testament prophecy still circles 
 round the Jews as a nation, overleaping all details 
 of the interval between the advents, why should it be 
 presumed to be different with New Testament prophecy ? 
 These premises I have endeavoui-ed to argue out against 
 Mr. B.'s objections. On which side the truth lies, oui" 
 readers must judge. But I am persuaded the root 
 of the matter is here ; and I regret that Mr. B. has 
 perplexed it by his method of reply, which is forcible 
 only because it is undiscriminating. Thus, at my remark, 
 that " of those political revolutions of the earth, which 
 Gibbon and other historians have chosen to record, Old 
 Testament prophecy is utterly unobservant," Mr. Birks 
 exclaims, " an assertion truly prodigious ;" meaning, 
 I suppose, to impute to me the denial of the ruin of 
 the ancient seats of empire in the East, being in 
 accordance mth the Divine predictions. But though 
 I believe there is much exaggeration in the coincidences 
 commonly adduced under this head by our evidence 
 wTiters,just because the predictions in question yet await 
 
PREFACE. XXVll 
 
 their complete fulfilment, Mr. Birks should have observed 
 that I withheld the character of accomplished prophecy 
 not from these events, but, as I expressly stated, from 
 those constituting " the history of Christendom'' — I had 
 even specified, in my pamphlet, — " the invasion by the 
 Goths and Saracens, &c. ;" and I have yet to learn 
 that the rehearsal of such matters, in Old Testament 
 prophecy, is even maintained by Messrs. Birks, Elliott, 
 or any other ^^Titer. Now that my true position is 
 discerned, as I trust it will be, by Mr. B., he will 
 see how completely beside the mark, have been all 
 his brandishings against me, of " the conviction of the 
 Church in all ages — the plainest maxims of criticism — 
 and the clear facts of history." 
 
 X. Another specimen of inadvertence in Mr, Birks' 
 is to be found in the maintenance of his analogy 
 between Israel and the Church, as centres of prophetic 
 information. He had said that the reason why the 
 earlier prophecies all circled round the people of 
 Israel was, that they were the covenant people of God, 
 adding ; — 
 
 " Ever since the days of Jobu, the Jews have not been the people 
 of the covenant ; but the privilege has been transferred to the 
 visible Church among the Gentiles." 
 
 To this I replied that long before Israel had acquired 
 nationality, they constituted the fruitful centre of 
 prophecy ; and that the same was the case, now that 
 they were disorganized as a nation. Hereby I desired 
 to impress upon the reader's mind, and upon Mr. Birks, 
 if he would let me, that Israel's being nationally 
 recognized of God, was not necessaiy, as he appeared 
 
XXVUl PREFACE. 
 
 to assume, to their being the radiating centre of prophecy. 
 Mr. B. now rejoins that I have " rejdaced his statement 
 by another, and then argue against a shadow of my 
 own devising.'' But how am I chargeable with this? 
 Because it appears, I have understood his term, " the 
 people of the covenant," as equivalent to Israel's national 
 recognition by God; whereas, this latter, — ''their 
 nationality,'' — he observes, " began in Egypt, or at 
 the Exodus;" but the covenant began when the words 
 were uttered :— " I will be a God to thee, and to 
 thy seed after thee." This I admit, looks like accuracy, 
 but what is the purport of it? Admitting that the 
 covenant with Abraham preceded the actual nationality 
 of Israel, is it of the covenant, simjily, that Mr, Birks 
 had been speaking, and not rather of the organized 
 nation? For, observe Mr. B.'s words: "so long as they 
 remained the jJ^ople of the covenant." This language, 
 it is obvions, implies that, in the sense in which 
 Mr. B. uses it, Israel are not 7iow the people of the 
 covenant. But Mr. B. holds, I believe as fully as 
 I do, that in regard to the purpose of God, they 
 have never ceased to be such. Therefore, the only 
 thing to which he can be supposed to refer, is their 
 non-recognition as the people of the covenant, i. e., as 
 I have said, their present disorganization as a nation. 
 
 Thus, it is manifest, I have not misrepresented 
 Mr. Birks' proposition, but he has made a distinction 
 \sithout a difference. And my argument is just the 
 same whichever expression is employed. I here restate 
 it for the satisfaction of our readers, using Mr. B.'s own 
 terms. ' Prophecy circled round Israel, not only as 
 
PREFACE. XXIX 
 
 *' long as they remained the people of the covenant," 
 but before they were a people at all. And now that 
 they are not the people of the covenant, i.e., not 
 recognized of God, — prophecy still circles around them.' 
 Hence it is an assumption of Mr. B. to lay it down 
 that because of their actual condition as God's covenant 
 people, Israel were the centre of prophetic revelations 
 concerning the earth ; and it is of course, inconclusive 
 to argue from this that the Church being now owned 
 of God, they must occupy the same prophetic relation. 
 The fact is, Israel's calling to precedence in the earth, 
 and their progress to their inheritance, involving earthly 
 details — peculiarities not obtaining in the Church's 
 case, — have been overlooked by Mr. Birks. Hence his 
 impatience at my disallowance of his analogy. 
 
 XI. Mr. Birks is also very impatient at my affirming 
 that "the Church's relation to the world is not direct, 
 but through the intermediate link of restored Israel ; " 
 which proposition he has chosen to regard as denpng 
 to believers now an infiuence on society around them.. 
 But Mr. B. will excuse me for saying, I denied no such 
 thing ; and if he will look again, he v>ill see that my 
 reference was to the Divine dealings ^^ith the nations of 
 the earth, as such. And that they are reser\-ed, as the 
 sphere for Israels agency, in the latter day — even as, 
 by Israel, their conversion is, at last, to be effected to 
 the faith of Christ — is not, I presume, questioned by 
 Mr. Birks. On the other hand, the election which is 
 now going on — a secret process — with all its parallel 
 influences which are assignable, is compatible with any 
 
XXX 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 variety of phases, which the nations may assume. 
 Accordingly, admitting, in a general sense, the com- 
 parison which Mr. B. adduces, that " what the soul is 
 in the body, that are Christians in the world," I ask, 
 does not such comparison properly belong to the case 
 of Israel organized as a kingdom, in the midst of the 
 nations of the earth — the event which will constitute 
 the remarkable period as our Lord calls it of the 
 Regeneration. Matt. xix. '28. 
 
 XII. I now hasten to the elucidation of the texts of 
 Scripture on which Mr. Birks and I are at issue. 
 
 (1.) And first in regard to 1 Peter i. 11, which I 
 conceive is all important as reconcihng other apparently 
 conflicting passages. I shall put it, and them, into 
 juxta-position, as the most satisfactory to the reader. 
 
 APPARENT 
 CONTRADICTIONS. 
 
 "TheGospelofGod 
 which lie had promised 
 afore by his prophets in 
 the holy Scriptures." 
 Romans i. 1, 2. 
 
 "Now to him that 
 is of power to stablish 
 you according to my 
 gospel, and the preach- 
 ing of Jesus Christ, 
 according to the reve- 
 lation of the mystery 
 
 which now 
 
 is made manifest, and 
 by the Scriptures of the 
 prophets, according to 
 the commandment of 
 the everlasting God, 
 made known to all 
 nations for the obedi- 
 ence of faith." 
 
 Rom. xvi.25,26. 
 
 HARMONIZING 
 EXPLANATIONS. 
 
 " Of which salvation 
 the prophets have en- 
 quired and searched 
 diligently, who pro- 
 phesied of the grace 
 that should come unto 
 you ; searching what, 
 or what manner of 
 time the Spirit of 
 Christ which was in 
 them did signify, when 
 it testified before- 
 hand the sufferings of 
 Christ, and the glory 
 that should follow, 
 unto whom it was 
 revealed that not unto 
 themselves but unto 
 us they did minister 
 the things which ai*e 
 now reported unto 
 you." 1 Peter i. 11, 12. 
 
 APPARENT 
 CONTRADICTIONS. 
 
 "The mystery which 
 from the beginning of 
 the world hath been 
 hid in God." 
 
 Eph. iii. 9. 
 
 "The mystery of 
 Christ which in other 
 ages was not made 
 known unto the sons 
 of men, as it is now 
 revealed unto his holy 
 apostles and prophets 
 by the Spirit." 
 
 Eph. iii. 4, 5. 
 
 "The mystery which 
 hath been hid from 
 ages and genei*ations, 
 but now is made mani- 
 fest to his saints." 
 
 Col. i. 26. 
 
PREFACE. XXXI 
 
 From the first of the foregoing columns, it appears that 
 Old Testament Prophecy includes some reference to our 
 dispensation. From the third it is equally plain that 
 until the ministry of Paul commenced, our dispensation 
 was hidden — not made known What is the harmonizing 
 explanation of these two propositions? The middle 
 column, as 1 have said, supplies it, and in this way — 
 telling us that the Spirit of Christ, in the Old Testament 
 Prophets, testified beforehand of the great themes — the 
 Christward sufferings and the glories afterwards; the 
 former, as well as the latter, including what was to 
 happen to Israel. Our dispensation lay between in an 
 undefined interval, and ivhat time and what manner of 
 time it was to be, the Prophets exercised themselves to 
 discern ; but it sufiiced with God to reveal to them 
 that this was a matter to be developed only in our day ; 
 and that it was not for them to penetrate into it. Bat, 
 how, it may be asked, in this case, did they '' prophecg 
 of the grace that shoidd come to us,'' and " mbiister the 
 things reported to us V^ This question I had anticipated 
 in my pamphlet to the effect that they handed down to 
 us, so to speak, " the seed-plot of our dispensation ; but 
 the precious seed itself to be sow^n therein, or rather 
 already deposited, only destined to lie inorganic till the 
 due season of Messiah's rejection by ' his own' would 
 arrive, this — they did not, they could not recognize." 
 Again, I had said that in the sufferings and glories of 
 which the Prophets testified, involving the fall and 
 rising again of their own people, they perceived the 
 boundaries of our dispensation, and were anxious to 
 
XXXll PREFACE. 
 
 discern the filling up. But this was reserved for 
 another time, and for a special ministry ; even that of 
 Paul "made a minister to fulfil {irXripioaai) the word 
 of God, even the mystery hid from ages and from 
 generations, but now made manifest to his saints." 
 Col. i. 25, 26. 
 
 With this comparison of Scripture with Scripture, 
 I should be quite satisfied to leave the subject to the 
 judgment of the reader ; but that Mr. Birks reproaches 
 me for not replying to the objection on this point urged 
 in his original article. I proceed therefore to supply 
 the omission, and it is easily done without going beyond 
 Mr. B's ovni premises. " The sufferings and the glories," 
 he contends, are not two chronological limits, " hut the 
 reverse." For, he proceeds : — 
 
 " The glory of our Lord, as he himself expounds to his disciples, 
 Luke xxiv., followed at once upon his suflferings. 1'he sufferings 
 of his members, which also pertain to him, continue long after his 
 glory has begun." 
 
 Is not this an admission, in so many words, I ask, 
 of the very position Mr. B. denies? For, thus the 
 Christward sufferings still continue, and only the 
 personal glory of our Lord has begnin, that is, " the 
 (jlories''' have not yet set in. But bring into view, what 
 my argument required, and Mr. B. has not ventured to 
 contradict, that in the sufferings and glories in question, 
 Israel's blindness and restoration are included, and the 
 propriety of regarding the same as comprehensive 
 boundaries, between wiiich our dispensation runs its 
 course, is at once obvious. The fact is, by substituting 
 
PREFACE. XXXni 
 
 glory for glories, and excluding Israel's, Mr. B. has 
 obscured the argument he was opposing, even to himself. 
 (2.) As to Isaiah xlix. 6, Mr. B. says : — 
 
 " The Apostles quote it distinctly as a command of God, that 
 they should preach the Gospel there and then to the Gentiles." 
 Acts xiii. 47. 
 
 Therefore, I add, it is plain that they intended not 
 to interpret the passage, but merely to state what it 
 implied. For, it is remarkable, the interpretation is not 
 a command at all, but a promise to Messiah. Mr. Birks 
 may say that to the extension of the Divine favor to the 
 Gentiles as such, the Jews of Antioch who contradicted 
 and blasphemed would not have objected But I refer 
 him to Peter, who, without the overruling instruction of 
 a special vision would not have communicated the 
 Gospel to Cornelius and his company ; ' and this was 
 not the broaching to them the mystery of our dis 
 pensation, but simply the proclamation "unto the 
 Gentiles of repentance unto hfe," such as the Gentiles 
 at large will yet enjoy when our dispensation is over, 
 and the Jewish nation restored. See Acts xi. IS. If 
 the clear revelation of an event in the Scriptures, is to 
 make it incredible that parties should stumble at it, as 
 Mr. B. argues, then is it incredible that the Jews were 
 oifended at Messiah's advent in humiliation, for what 
 could be more cleai-ly revealed than this ? 
 
 (3.) On Deut. xxxii. 21, and Isaiah Ixv. 1, I must 
 leave what has been said between us to the judgment of 
 our readers, only I must remark I am surprised at 
 Mr. B's dismissing the matter as he has done, with 
 
XXXiy PREFACE. 
 
 meagre assertions which are no more satisfactory on the 
 subject than are the common headings of the chapters 
 in our Bibles on any matter of controversy. 
 
 (4.) In addition to what I have already said upon 
 Matt. xxi. 43, I would submit that the nation in 
 question bringing forth the fruits of righteousness, is 
 the same as " the righteous nation which keepeth the 
 truth," referred to in Isaiah xxvi. 2 ; and both passages 
 agree with Exodus xix 6, which clearly relates to the 
 people of Israel. The text Mr. Birks adduces, 1 Peter ii. 9, 
 is only an apiMcation of the latter to Christians, which, 
 of course, ought not to interfere with its strict 
 interpretatio7i. 
 
 (5.) I am sorry to observe that my argument from 
 Acts i. 6, is still misapprehended by Mr. B. And yet 
 I can conceive nothing simpler. But, let me again 
 put it. Our Lord had been interrogated, after his 
 resurrection, as to whether he would then restore again 
 the kingdom to Israel. Whereupon he replies : — " It 
 is not for you to know the times and the seasons 
 which the Father hath put in his own powder." Hence, 
 I inferred that knowledge of the times and seasons has 
 to do -svith the recognition of the matter of Jewish 
 hope. As I observed in my last, having in view the 
 mere question w^hich might have emanated from any 
 quarter, " whom they, (the enquiring disciples,) repre- 
 sented, concerned not my argument." T should have 
 thought this very obvious. But no, — Mr. B. will have 
 it, in spite of all I say, that my argument '* rests upon 
 the secret assiimjMon that the Apostles here represent 
 
PREFACE. XXXV 
 
 the Gentile Church in contrast to the Jews" Now, 
 whence this insensibility to my disclaimer ? I will 
 tell the reader. It arises not from any pertinacity of 
 imputation on the part of Mr. B., but (though it ought 
 not to be left for me to make the explanation for him) 
 from his interpolation into my premises of a counter 
 argument of his own. I had argued, I repeat, simply 
 from the subject matter of the question, and our 
 Lord's reply. Mr. Birks argues, it appears, from the 
 representative character of the questioners. But how at 
 length have I discovered this ? By a very slight clue 
 indeed — nothing more than Mr. B's quietly putting an 
 emphasis by means of italics upon one word : — It is not 
 for you to know the times and the seasons." Herein 
 lies his counter-argument, at least, his principal premise. 
 Having traced it to him, let me now inquire how it 
 avails against my position. And to this end, I admit 
 at once, what Mr. B. thinks must give him a triumph, 
 that in the dialogue in question, our Lord's disciples 
 represented — as they really were — a Jewish remnant. 
 What then is the legitimate conclusion ? Why simply 
 this, that it was not for them to know what was not yet 
 revealed by the Father. But it is obvious, from our 
 Lord's words, that when, if ever, such revelation were 
 made, it would consist of information concerning the 
 times and the seasons ; that is, that the recognition of 
 the great crisis of Jewish hope (the restoration of the 
 kingdom of Israel) would be associated with knowledge 
 of this kind. Mr. Birks seems to apprehend our Lord's 
 answer to the disciples as importiug that, for the 
 
XXXVl PREFACE. 
 
 satisfaction of their inquisitiveness about the kingdom, 
 they needed not to know the times and the seasons. 
 Whereas, it only conveyed the fact that such knowledge 
 was reserved from them. My view, also, as given on 
 the same page of my pamphlet, which Mr. B. quotes, 
 was, that this reservation extended to the case of our 
 Lord Himself, prior to His ascension, (His Christ 
 relation only then receiving its full development,) after 
 which, in the Apocalypse, he disclosed this very knowledge 
 through the Apostle John. Compare Mark xiii. 32, with 
 Rev. i. 1. Thus, though I disclaim the position imputed 
 to me by Mr. Birks, that the disciples represented the 
 whole Gentile Church, and believe with him, (if, indeed, 
 he does believe it,) that they represented, what they 
 were, a Jewish remnant, my argument is not ** reduced 
 to ashes," but comes out the brighter, I think, from the 
 discussion. 
 
 (6.) My interpretation of Gal. i. 11 — 17, is objected 
 to by Mr. Birks. 1 proceed to vindicate it. The chief 
 proposition of my argument is, that when the Apostle 
 states that he received the Gospel which he taught, 
 "not of man, but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ," 
 he refers to a Personal appearance of our Lord, to him, 
 subsequent to that at his conversion, when " it pleased 
 God to reveal his Son in him." Mr. Birks maintains 
 that the Apostle refers only to the latter. 
 
 [1. I reply, that on Mr. B.'s view% the Apostle's 
 statement would be incorrect. For, admitting that what 
 passed at the miraculous scene of his conversion shows 
 him to have been directly commissioned as an Apostle ; 
 
PREFACE. XXXVll 
 
 yet, from none of the recitals of it, does it appear that 
 the matter of his teaching was then communicated to 
 him. The narrative of Luke is as follows : — " Lord, 
 what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said 
 tmto him, Arise and go into the city and it shall be told 
 thee what thou must do." Acts ix. 6. To the same effect 
 the dialogue is given by Paul himself : — " What shall 
 T do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and 
 go into Damascus ; and there it shall be told thee of all 
 things which are appointed for thee to do." Acts xxii. 1 0. 
 And so Ananias was presently employed to enjoin gene- 
 rally upon the Apostle that he should bear witness unto 
 all men of what he had " seen and heard;" i.e., what 
 had just transpired, the vision of Jesus, and the words 
 ivhich He spake. Thus even the admission that Paul 
 received his apostolic commission on the occasion of his 
 conversion, can only be justified by taking into account 
 the supplementary communication of Ananias. 
 
 [2. But when we turn to the remaining version of 
 the transaction in chap, xxvi., which obviously embodies 
 Ananias' message with the vision itself, the evidence 
 is positive in favor of another vision, or visions, being 
 yet in reserve to qualify the Apostle for his mission ; 
 for, the language runs thus : " T am Jesus, whom 
 thou persecutest, but rise, and stand upon thy feet ; 
 for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to 
 make thee a minister and a witness both of those 
 things which thou hast seen, and of those things in 
 the which I IV ill aj)pear unto thee.'' Ver. 15, 16. Here 
 is clear intimation that to furnish the Apostle for the 
 
XXXVlll PREFACE. 
 
 work before him, he was to enjoy a subsequent vision, 
 or visions, of his Lord. If then, as we have seen, 
 his appeal to what transpired at his conversion would 
 not be conclusive as evidence of his gospel which he 
 preached not being taught him by man, why should 
 we not understand that appeal as extending to what 
 would he conchisive, — the Lord's promised appearance to 
 him afterwards. 
 
 [3. But, again : of his account of the institution of 
 the Lord's supper, (Cor. xi. 23.) the Apostle said that 
 he ''received it of the Lord.'' Now does Mr. Birks 
 connect the acquisition of this knowledge with what 
 obtained at the Apostle's conversion, or even at his 
 interview with Ananias ? I presume not. And yet, 
 this was a subject which Ananias, as a disciple, was of 
 course acquainted with. But was such the character 
 of that gospel to which the Apostle alludes in the 
 passage before us, as having been taught him " by the 
 REVELATION OF JESUS CHEisT ?" Let his own rocital 
 of it as that which he was specially called to preach, 
 answer to the question : "a minister, according to 
 the dispensation of ^God which is given to me, for 
 you to fulfil the word of God ; even the mystery which 
 hath been hid from ages and generations, but now is made 
 manifest to his saints : to whom God would make 
 known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery 
 among the Gentiles ; which is Christ in you, the 
 hope of glory." Col. i. 25 — 27. Here is a gospel the 
 characteristic of which is — not Messiah or Christ 
 reigning over Jew and Gentile, but — " Christ i« you, 
 
PREFACE. XXXIX 
 
 the hope of glory ;" betokening the intimate relation 
 which exists between the Church and her glorious 
 Head as one body. Was it a matter of course, then, 
 for the Apostle, as a converted Jew of those days, to 
 know this? Could it even have been communicated 
 to him by Ananias ? — Such notion is, at once, con- 
 tradicted by the double fact that to Paul the mystery 
 was first divulged, and that for him to impart it to his 
 brother Apostles afterwards needed considerable caution. 
 For thus, in the very context of the passage before us, 
 and to which Mr. Birks ought to have extended his 
 quotation, the Apostle relates : " Then fourteen years 
 after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, 
 and I went up by revelation and communicated unto 
 them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, 
 but j:>rii;«ieZi/ to them which were of rejmtation, lest 
 by any means I should run, or had run in vain. 
 Gal. ii. 1, 2. Does it not appear from this that there 
 was such a peculiarity in the Gospel which Paul 
 preached — and, doubtless, as calling from earthly 
 associations altogether to heavenly glory — that at first, 
 only select brethren, in the Church at Jerusalem, could 
 bear to have it opened up to them ? All this may 
 seem a " novel paradox" to Mr. Birks, and opposed 
 to " the great body of Divines," but, for my part, 
 content to be still a learner, I call it only a little 
 gleaning of adequate knowledge on the subject of the 
 Apostle's allusion ; and applying it accordingly, I am 
 quite confirmed in the view, that, after Paul's conversion, 
 
xl PREFACE. 
 
 which he describes as a revelation of the Son of 
 God in him, (ver 16.) he had a further revelation or 
 appearing of Christ to him, (ver. 1*2.) by which he 
 was initiated into the mystery of the calling of the 
 Church under this dispensation. 
 
 That this latter Revelation, also, was enjoyed by 
 him in Arabia, is highly probable, because of the 
 close connexion in which follows the mention of his 
 journey thither, whilst no such journey is recorded 
 amongst his preaching expeditions in the Acts. Mr. B. 
 says that I make St. Paul address to the Galatians 
 this absurd proof of his Divine commission : *' I received 
 not the Gospel of man, but by Divine revelation, for 
 I went into Arabia ; as if every one who went thither 
 must of course receive a superaatural vision!" But 
 here Mr. Birks confounds things that differ. The 
 Galatians, and the Church of God since, had only 
 Paul's assurance to rely on, touching the fact of his 
 having been taught by the Revelation in question ; 
 but in giving this assurance, it was natural that he should 
 incidentally notice the place of it, which is all I urge. 
 From the way in which the Apostle denies his having 
 gone, at once, to Jerusalem, we may gather his admission 
 that such jouraey, had it been taken, might have sug- 
 gested the notion of his gospel having been received 
 from the other Apostles. But will Mr. Birks say 
 that the Apostle hereby exposes himself to the reproach 
 of a similar absurdity ; namely, that every one who 
 went to Jerusalem must of course have been instructed 
 
PKEFACE. 
 
 xli 
 
 to act the Apostle. On the other hand, may it not 
 be fairly reasoned from the manifest antithesis, in the 
 Apostle's recital, between the places Jerusalem and 
 Arabia, that as the former was contemplated by him, 
 as a possible, — it might be held the probable, — source 
 of the ordinary Apostolic commission, which he disclaims, 
 so the latter naturally comes in, as the real scene of the 
 Lord's extraordinary Revelation to him, which he affirms. 
 (7.) I had used the foregoing case of St. Paul's 
 receiving the revelation of Christ in Arabia, as 
 analogous to John's receiving the Apocalypse in 
 Patmos — and so I took the Apostle's prefatory state- 
 ment (chap. i. 9) in its simple obvious meaning: — 
 " I was in the isle called Patmos for, {i. e. in order 
 to receiving,) the word of God, and the testimony of 
 Jesus Christ." This view Mr. Birks utterly derides. 
 But I maintain, with all deference to Mr. B's pleading 
 and criticism, that if there be precedent at all, (and 
 he now^ admits there is, though he before denied it,) 
 for giving bia a prospective sense, there is no avoiding 
 such construction in the present case. 
 
 [I He is shut up to it by the import of the compound 
 phrase, " the word of God and the testimony of Jesus 
 Christ" — for it occurs in verse 2, and is there, without 
 doubt, equivalent to " the things ivhich John saw'' — the 
 visions of this book. Thus we have the Spirit's own 
 explanation of these words, and I cannot suffer Mr. Birks 
 capriciously to change their meaning in verse 9. 
 
 [2. But what confirms the necessity of adhering to it, 
 is the New Testament use of the latter substantive, 
 
xlii PREFACE. 
 
 with a genitive annexed — " the testimony of Jesus" — 
 whence it appears that the testimony of which he is the 
 AutJior is intended ; not that of which he is simply the 
 subject. When the latter is intended, the dative, and 
 not the genitive case, is employed. Various examples 
 of this I adduced in my last letter. And of the counter- 
 references on the strength of which Mr. Birks denies 
 the uniformity of the rule, only one relates to the point, 
 as specifying the substantive in question, testimony, 
 (fxapTvpia); and such reference, Rev, xix. 10, is really 
 no exception to my interpretation, for "the Spirit of 
 prophecy" is the Spirit of Christ testifying in the 
 Prophets, 1 Peter i. 11 ; and indeed, according to the 
 original, the parts of the sentence may be inverted, and 
 read thus, " the Spirit of prophecy is the testimony 
 of Jesus." 
 
 [3. Again, in chap. xii. 17, we have " the testimony 
 of Jesus'" — the exact expression here — spoken of as a 
 simple ijossession, and distinguished from that which 
 constitutes one's own testimony in the way of faith- 
 fulness : — " The remnant of the Woman's seed keep 
 [Trjpeu)) the commandment of God," but they " have (ej^w^, 
 the testimony of Jesus." What must be the testimony 
 which admits of this description, if not the visions of 
 this book thus denominated, as we have seen in 
 chap. i. 2? 
 
 Connecting all this evidence, then, gathered from tlie 
 use of the terms severally, and combined, it is plain 
 that " the word of God and the testimony of Jesus 
 Christ," (ver. 9,) means, as already stated, the things 
 
PREFACE. xliii 
 
 which John saw, and which are rehearsed in this book. 
 How, then, can he be apprehended to have been in 
 Patmos, for, or, on account of these things, except in 
 order to their being there disclosed to him ? Certainly 
 he could not have been banished to Patmos because of 
 what he saw in Patmos. But, with the pui'port before 
 us of Paul's journey to Arabia, we can easily conceive of 
 his being there by the Divine appointment, that he 
 might see and record the wondrous things here revealed. 
 Thus, the exigency of the passage leaves us no alter- 
 native but to take the preposition {bia) prospectively ; 
 and if it were an anomaly in Greek grammar, w^e should 
 only submit to it, as we do to other anomalies in this 
 book. But we are not left to this, as T show^ed in my 
 last letter. Nor has Mr. B. commended to me his 
 counter-interpretations of the examples adduced. One, 
 however, is sufficient to insist on. Johnxii. 30. " This 
 voice came not for me, but for your sakes." And 
 even through Mr. Birks paraphrase, the prospective 
 signification of 5ta forces itself upon our recognition. 
 ' This voice came, not because I needed a sign, but 
 because your faith was weak and needed confirmation.' 
 Let Mr. Birks' paraphrase, Rev. i. 9, similarly and 
 I shall be satisfied. 
 
 As to Rev. vi. 9, and xx. 4, where we read of the 
 martyrs slain for "the Word of God and the testimony 
 of Jesus Christ" — the same phrase — the causative 
 sense of hta, in those texts, is not objected to, but 
 admitted by me. Only the natural ellipsis, as I have 
 supplied it, is that they were slain because of their 
 
xliv PREFACE. 
 
 maintaining, or cleaving to the testimony in question, 
 not for their mere ''reading'" it; and Mr. Birks might 
 really have forborne this change of my words. The 
 fact is, the preposition hia as in the English for, has 
 an aspect prospective and retrospective, which is some- 
 times determined by the first look at the sentence with 
 which it is connected. And, I submit, the present is 
 a case of this kind ; for, knowing the active meaning 
 of the " Word of God and the testimony of Jesus 
 Christ," we cannot help taking hia prospectively in 
 chap. i. 9 ; • whilst, on the other hand, the one un- 
 mistakeable import of slain and beheaded in chap. vi. 9, 
 and XX. 4, where hiu also occurs, obliges us to take it 
 retrospectively. 
 
 (9.) As to the import of " the Lord's day,'' Mr. Birks 
 still contends that it must be essentially different from 
 that of " the day of the Lardy But after all, the only 
 ground of difference is that the adjective form of the 
 word, " Lord," is used, in the one case, and the 
 substantive, in the other. Is it credible, I ask, that 
 this trifling variation was designed of the Spirit to 
 indicate such a change in the meaning of the phrase ? 
 With simple-minded readers, this reflection will certainly 
 have weight, especially when they see in the Gospels 
 that " the day when the Son of Man is revealed," 
 (the very subject of the Apocalypse according to its 
 title) and " His day' are used as convertible terms. 
 See Luke xvii. 24, 26, 30. Thus, Mr. Birks must 
 admit that, at least, the first blush of the argument 
 is against him. What then are his countervailing 
 allegations against it ? 
 
PREFACE. xlv 
 
 [1. To suppose John to be transported iu spirit into 
 a distant time, " involves an idea which finds not one 
 precedent in Scripture, and is opposed to the constant 
 law of prophetic revelation." I humbly submit that the 
 very contrary is the truth. What Mr. Birks objects to 
 is a grand characteristic of the prophetic visions of 
 the Old Testament ; and therein has been continually 
 recognized by commentators as accounting for the use 
 of the present tense, as in Isaiah ix. 6. x. 28 — 31. 
 liii. 3 — 12. " The Prophet Isaiah," says Hengstenblrg, 
 "so lives in the events he describes that the future f be- 
 comes to him as tke past and the jJresent.''' The following 
 also are extracts from Bishop Horsley which have caught 
 my eye on turning to his works : " This is the language 
 of a man describing a scene lying before him." (On Isaiah 
 chap. 1.) Again : " Here the Prophet suddenly inflamed, 
 as it were, by the word ' remnant,' rushes into dlstaiit 
 times y Numerous remarks of the same kind occur^ 
 I will venture to say, in every writer on the subject 
 of Prophetic inspiration. Thus, it is not incongruous 
 to read Ficv. i. 10, "J was in spirit in the Lord's day.'' 
 It is but the avowal more explicitly of what these 
 learned writers attribute to the Prophets generally. 
 For example, if Bishop Horsley were asked how he 
 conceived that the Prophet Isaiah rushed into distant 
 times,'' no doubt he would reply that it was in spirit, and 
 by the Spirit. And does not the Prophet Ezekiel say 
 tlie same thing substantially of himself, when he records : 
 •' In the visions of God brought he me into the land of 
 Israel." Ezek. xl. 2. Does not the Evangelist also 
 
xlvi PREFACE. 
 
 affirm it of Isaiah when he writes '* these things said 
 Esaias ichen he saio his glory V Compare Isaiah vi. 1 — 5 
 with John xii. 41. Does not the Apostle Paul also 
 speak of being present in spirit with the Corinthians 
 whilst personally separated from them? '' I verily as 
 absent in body, but j^^^^^^i-i i^^ spirit, have judged 
 already.'' 1 Cor. v. 3. See also Col. ii. 5. 
 
 [2. But the evidence which effectually disposes of 
 the opposition contended for between the Lord's day 
 (Kvjom*:?/ T/^€|oa)andthe day of the Lord, {rj/iepa rovKvptov) 
 is that which I adduced from 1 Cor. iv. 3, where 
 the analogous phrase, ma?is day, [ApdpwKivr} ■nfxepa) 
 obviously equivalent to the day of man, is employed 
 by the Spirit to denote the w^hole season of man's 
 mis-judgment, until the Lord comes. Indeed, it is a 
 remarkable fact that this latter identical phrase occurs 
 in the Septuagint translation of Jeremiah, ch. xvii. 16, 
 where the words are, in English, " neither have I desired 
 the day of man.'' Our version is ''the woeful day." 
 But, besides that the original Hebrew, with a trifling 
 variation in the stopping, admits of either meaning, 
 that adopted by the Septuagint, I believe to be 
 the genuine one, because more congruous with the 
 sentiment that the Prophet utters. For, he seems 
 to be contemplating the climax of wickedness in the 
 latter times, when man's day ^^dll, as it were, reach 
 its meridian ascendancy; and in connexion ^^ith his 
 averment concerning himself, — "that which came out of 
 my lips was right before thee," [i. e. his speech was not 
 arrogant or vain-glorious) — his disclaimer of the hope of 
 
PREFACE. xlvii 
 
 the Apostate is natural : " I have not desired mans day.'' 
 Then follows the contemplation of the day of the Lord s 
 judgment, which he calls in the two following verses 
 ''the day of evil,'' hecause, as the Apostle says to the 
 Thessalonians, it will interrupt mans day with terrible 
 disaster : " When they shall say, Peace and safety ; 
 then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail 
 upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape." 
 1 Thess. V. 3. Here, in Jer. xvii., the reader will observe 
 that the word, day of man {rj^cpa avdptoirov) is anarthrous, 
 and yet it is antithetical to " the day of evil," a synonyme 
 for " the day of the Lord." Thus one chief criticism of 
 Mr. Bii'ks is disposed of, by the use of the Septuagint. 
 But, the argument I wish especially to urge is this, 
 (and it shall be my final remark) — if rjfjiepa ardpwrrov, 
 in the Old Testament, be essentially the same with 
 ApOpuTTivT] Tjfjtepa, in the New, why object to the 
 corresponding relation between ?;juepa rov Kvpiov and 
 K.vpiaicrj rjuepa. 
 
 I have thus endeavoured, I trust, dispassionately, to 
 examine Mr. Birks' letters. The spirit of system — 
 the cramping tendency, it is sad to think, of superior 
 minds — runs through them, as through his original 
 article. Forgetting that the Word of God should be 
 expected to outgrow all our systems ; that its unity 
 must be richer in variety than has yet been discovered ; 
 he attributes to it — as Lord Bacon alleges to have been 
 the mistake of students of nature — " a greater degree 
 of order, simplicity, and regularity, [i.e. obviously) 
 than is actually indicated by observation." Hence he 
 c2 
 
xlviii PREFACE. 
 
 has dogmatized in the application of a few general rules, 
 and cannot brook my humble attempts at further in- 
 vestigation. Indeed, the tone of his remarks has 
 been, in many instances, overbearing. But there is 
 no disputing concerning tastes. I shall only remind 
 him, as he rests his vindication of this on zeal for the 
 tinith, that there is a bitter zeal (James iii. 14) against 
 which even the disciple who lay on the bosom of love 
 needed to be cautioned. Luke ix. 49, 54, 55. If T have 
 transgressed herein myself, I refuse not to bear the 
 blame ; though, in truth, I cannot discern the evidence 
 on which my brother has made the charge. But even 
 if he could substantiate it, need I say that his exempli- 
 fication of the contraiy would have been more worthy 
 of the occasion than retaliation. 
 
 As to the evil prognostications in which he has 
 indulged concerning the issue of my prophetical views, 
 this is a weapon I shall not handle. But it has been 
 handled, let me inform Mr. Birks, by another writer, and 
 against the precious truth of the Premillenial advent, 
 amongst the advocates of which he is assigned a distin- 
 guished position. Indeed, the similarity of peroration, 
 in this respect, between Mr. Birks' letters, and the 
 Rev. David Brown's recent work on the second advent — 
 the writer alluded to — is so remarkable, that for the 
 instruction of my readers, I cannot forbear comparing 
 the respective extracts. 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 xlix 
 
 Mr. BIEKS. 
 
 " I have now replied fully to 
 every stricture .... affecting my 
 original argument. I believe that 
 his abstract principles on the 
 subject are not only unscriptural, 
 but practically mischievous; that 
 they substitute wire-drawn ab- 
 stractions, and baseless hypo- 
 thetical systems of the universe, 
 for the actual course of Divine 
 pro\'idence. ..Are like the wings 
 of Icarus, which may soon pre- 
 cipitate those who trust in them 
 before they are aware, from the 
 height of fancied superior spirit- 
 uality, into an abyss of spiritual 
 extravagancies ; and will betray 
 them into positive infidelity. It is 
 a strong and deep conviction of 
 the practical danger of these 
 views, and their seductive cha- 
 racter, on the first superficial 
 view, which prompted my remarks. 
 Viewing Christianity on the side 
 of its evidences, this extreme 
 Futurism of the Pamphlet is a 
 rent down to the foundation ; and 
 neither the personal piety of those 
 who embrace it, nor their claims 
 to superior light, can undo the 
 effects of tbeir rash and super- 
 ficial criticisms, in imperilling 
 the faith of Christians in these 
 days of coming temptation. This 
 is my deep, my deliberate and 
 growing conviction. Multitudes, 
 without being aware, stand on 
 the edge of a precipice. . . .God 
 will vindicate His own cause, 
 but alas for the multitudes who 
 become the prey of the deceiver. 
 
 Mr. BROWN. 
 
 " Here I close this investi- 
 gation. I have shown, I think, 
 under a number of heads, that 
 the premillennial scheme is at 
 variance with the Word of God — 
 that it proceeds upon crude and 
 arbitrary principles of interpre- 
 tation, while it shrinks from 
 carrying out even these to their 
 legitimate results — that as a 
 system it wants coherence, and 
 is palpably defective, making no 
 provision for some of the m.ost 
 important events which are to 
 occur in the history of our race — 
 and that its bearing on some of 
 the most precious doctrines of 
 God's Word are painful and 
 perilous. 
 
 *' These are strong things to 
 say ; could I have taken the 
 view of this system which many 
 do who never examined it — that 
 it is a harmless one, which it 
 matters little whether we embrace 
 or reject — I have too much dis- 
 like to oppose brethren in the 
 common salvation, to have sent 
 forth such a volume as this. It 
 is because I saw in it elements 
 which at once fascinate the carnal 
 and attract the spiritual, that 
 I thought it of consequence to 
 sift it. And none of the least 
 of my motives, in undertaking 
 this inquiry, was the desire to 
 rescue '* the blessed hope" 
 of the Saviour's appearing from 
 the erroneous and repulsive 
 circumstances with which this 
 doctrine invests it. 
 
 Upon the candid reader, I am satisfied, the foregoin< 
 
1 PREFACE. 
 
 extracts will produce no other impression than that 
 their respective authors are conscious of their popular 
 notions being' somewhat on the decline. At all events, 
 it is thus I accept, in behalf of Futurist views, these, 
 and Mr. Birks' other digressions, of the same kind, 
 from the strict line of legitimate argument. 
 
 Yours, &c., 
 
 JAMES KELLY. 
 
 In addition to the foregoing Letter, the Author 
 takes this opportunity of submitting to his readers 
 an extract, which may interest, from an old writer 
 of the seventeenth century, shewing that so far 
 back towards the Reformation the clue of inter- 
 pretation pursued in the present work had been 
 very nearly approached by others. 
 
 " Probably, most of the things prophesied of in 
 the Revelation from chapter iv. may and must be 
 done at and after Christ's coming from heaven ; 
 my reasons for such a supposition are — 
 
 L Because the time of John's receiving of it 
 is called the Lord's day, (Rev. i. 10) and very 
 probably relates to that saying of Christ, John xxi. 
 22, 23 : ' If I will that lie tarry till I come, what 
 is that to thee ? ' which might be this coming, 
 called the Lord's day, so called, because Christ 
 
PREFACE. il 
 
 did in vision discover" all things to John, as it shall 
 be done over when he cometh, both in bringing down 
 of his enemies, and saving his people. 
 
 2. Because very probably that the opening of 
 the seals, sounding of the trumpets, and pouring 
 out of the vials, may be at and after Chrisfs 
 coming from heaven, and if so, it must admit of 
 time for the doing thereof, and must be the time 
 of perfecting the Restauration work spoken of by 
 the Prophets, and saving of the Church,"* (Israel.) 
 
 * Body of Divinity, by Thomas Collier, 1674. p. 589. 
 
 Churton House, Belgrave Road, 
 1851. 
 
THE APOCALYPSE INTERPRETED. 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 SECTION FIRST. 
 Verses 1 — 0. 
 
 1 And when lie had opened the seventh seal, there was silenro 
 in heaven about the space of half an hour. 
 
 2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God ; and to 
 them were given seven trumpets. 
 
 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden 
 censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he 
 should offer it with the jirayers of all saints upon the golden altar 
 which was before the throne. 
 
 4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers 
 of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. 
 
 5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of 
 the altar, and cast it into the earth : and there were voices, and 
 thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. 
 
 6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared 
 themselves to sound. 
 
 In entering upon the examination of another great 
 division of the prophecies of this book^ it may be 
 well for the reader to be reminded of what has 
 been already submitted as the hope of the present 
 Church of God, even translation from the earth 
 to be with their Lord, before the things here 
 
 VOL. II. 1. B 
 
2 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. viil. 1 — 6. 
 
 recorded begin to run their course, to come with 
 Him afterwards when He appears in the brightness 
 of His glory. Thus, the rehearsal before us is to 
 interest the believer, not as disclosing events 
 which may involve himself personally, but as 
 admitting him into the counsels of his God con- 
 cerning others. In the destruction which came 
 upon Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham was not^ 
 involved, but God said, " Shall 1 hide from 
 Abraham that thing which I do ?" Gen. xviii. 17. 
 
 Accordingly, it was communicated to him 
 before-hand ; and it exercised, we know, the best 
 feelings of his heart in tender compassion for his 
 fellows, and zeal for the honour of Jehovah. In 
 this character of friends it is that the whole 
 Church of this dispensation is contemplated here. 
 Our God reveals to them what He purposes doing 
 on the earth, after that they are gathered to meet 
 their Lord in the air. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to apprize the reader, that 
 the series of trtimpet visitations now before us, like 
 that of the seals already considered, is interpreted 
 by our popular Commentators, symbolically ; 
 being referred by some, to the heresies which 
 distracted the Church in the early ages ; by others, 
 to the successive irruptions of the barbarous 
 nations on the Roman empire. Thus, amidst the 
 diversity of view which prevails, one feature is 
 held in common by both classes of writers, namely. 
 
CH. viii. 1 6.] INTERPRETED. 3 
 
 that these prophecies have been long since fulfilled, 
 and converted into history. Indeed, this latter 
 notion may be regarded as the parent mistake on 
 the subject. For, if the events pointed out have 
 already happened, then, as no such literal prodigies 
 are found on record, the interpreter is reduced to 
 the necessity of transforming them into figure, or 
 allegory, or symbol, as he is best able. And, as 
 the taste of authors and their historical research 
 range in difi'erent directions, and are supported by 
 various degrees of ingenuity, the success in this 
 department is of course equally dissimilar. Upon 
 this point the following dispassionate remarks by 
 the celebrated Michaelis may be considered worthy 
 of the reader's attention : — 
 
 " As most men are acquainted with the history 
 of their own country, and this history always 
 appears of so much the more importance in 
 proportion as we knoAV the less of the history of 
 other countries, the interpreters of the Apocalypse 
 have sought at home for the completion of its 
 prophecies : and as prophetical descriptions, with- 
 out either names or dates, are applicable to various 
 events, each interpreter has found, in a great part 
 of the Apocalypse, the history of his own country. 
 And when we consider that the passion for this 
 mode of interpretation has been variously modified, 
 sometimes by religious zeal and a spirit of perse- 
 cution, at other -times, by a sense of oppression 
 b2 
 
4 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. viii. 1 — 6. 
 
 and enmity to the ruling Churcli, we need not 
 wonder that the commentaries on the Apocalypse 
 have assumed such various shapes, that what is 
 affirmed as indisputably true in the one, is as flatly 
 contradicted in the other."* 
 
 Insisting, moreover, upon a knowledge of 
 history, especially of the history of Asia, as a 
 requisite qualification for the interpretation of the 
 Apocalypse, this candid writer thus enlarges : — 
 
 " A general knowledge of history is by no means 
 sufficient ; it must be a knowledge which descends 
 to the most minute particulars ; for a prophecy, in 
 which neither person nor place is named, we can 
 understand only by knowing the distinguishing 
 circumstances of those events to which it relates. 
 Great events, such as battles, political revolutions, 
 religious persecutions, when examined only at 
 large, are for the most part so similar to each 
 <nher, that, without names and dates, it is difficult 
 to distinguish them. At least there is hardly any 
 great event to which there is not something in 
 history which bears resemblance, and with which, 
 therefore, it might possibly be confounded, when 
 all distinctions of geography and chronology are 
 set aside, unless we know the more minute 
 circumstances which distinguish the one from the 
 other. Two battles fought by the French, the one 
 in 1513, the other in 1757, have a great resemblance 
 
 * Introduction lo the New Testament, by Michaelis, vol. iv. p. 510. 
 
CIl. viii. 1 6.] INTERPRETED. 5 
 
 to each other, though in importance they were 
 very unlike. Suppose, then, that these two battles 
 were represented in painting, and that some ages 
 hence, when the present military dress, modern 
 tactics, and plans of attack, which to us would 
 easily distinguish the one engagement from the 
 other, the two paintings should be put into the hands 
 of a person unacquainted with these particulars, 
 he would be at a loss to determine which of 
 the two paintings represented the one, and which 
 the other engagement. And every one, who has 
 visited galleries of historical paintings, knows how 
 difficult it is, without a very particular knowledge 
 of history, to pass through the gallery without 
 being at a loss in discovering the meaning of the 
 subjects. But the Commentators on the Apocalypse 
 are so far from having possessed a complete know- 
 ledge of history, that the greatest part of them 
 have displayed only a moderate share of it. 
 Vitringa, perhaps, will here likewise be mentioned 
 as an exception ; but among the Commentators on 
 the Apocalypse we can reckon only one Vitringa; 
 and even Vitringa's historical knowledge was not 
 sufficiently extensive. The ancient history before 
 the birth of Christ is foreign to our present 
 purpose ; and the history of the seventeen last 
 centuries was understood by Vitringa, in its full 
 extent, only so far as it relates to Europe. But 
 we cannot expect that prophecies, addressed to 
 
6 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. viii. 1 6. 
 
 seven communities in Asia Minor, should be 
 fulfilled only in Europe, or in the Latin Church. 
 Christianity flourished under the Eastern, as well 
 as under the Western Emperors ; it was propa- 
 gated likewise in Arabia, in Persia, in the great 
 Tartary, from the Caspian Sea to the borders of 
 China, and even in China itself. Asia has been 
 the seat of the most important revolutions, with 
 Avhich the history of Christianity is closely con- 
 nected. In Asia was founded the religion of 
 Mohammed; and out of Asia emerged the Saracens, 
 the Turks, and the Tartars. Whoever, therefore, 
 is not acquainted with the Constantinopolitan and 
 Asiatic histories of these nations, is by no means 
 qualified to become an interpreter of the 
 Apocalypse. But among all who have ventured 
 to interpret it, not one can boast of this thorough 
 acquaintance ; and the principal reason is, that 
 the best accounts of the Saracens, the Turks, and 
 the Tartars, are contained in Syriac and Arabic 
 authors, which very few historians can read in the 
 original, and of which we have either no trans- 
 lations at all, or not such as an historian can appeal 
 to, as to an original document." 
 
 To this sentence it is to be observed, that our 
 Author has appended the following remarkable 
 note : — 
 
 " It must be admitted, however, that even they 
 who were better acquainted with the Constanti- 
 
CH. viii. 1 6.] INTERPRETED. 7 
 
 nopolitan and Arabic histories tlian we are, did 
 not meet with, better success. For Barhebreeus, 
 the most celebrated historian of the east, who 
 lived in the reign of the great Tartarian conqueror 
 Hulac, and was himself a witness of very im- 
 portant revolutions, doubted of the divinity of the 
 Apocalypse, consequently he did not perceive any 
 correspondence between the prophecies of the 
 Apocalypse and the Asiatic history."* 
 
 This admission ought not to be lost on the 
 enquiring reader. With what unsatisfactory re-' 
 suits the magazine of Western History has 
 been ransacked by Pra^terist expositors of the 
 Apocalypse, let their mutually destructive pro- 
 ductions testify. But superadded to this, it appears 
 from the above admission, that Eastern history is 
 as barren of the object of pursuit. Surely this of 
 itself ought to commend to the ingenuous enquirer, 
 the position taken up in these pages, namely, 
 that the Apocalypse is to be interpreted, not in 
 the light of past history, but in that of the day of 
 the Lord, yet to come. 
 
 Ver. 1. And when he had opened the seventh 
 seal^ It has been already observed,t that under 
 the six seals which have preceded, a broad outline 
 is given of the Divine visitations which will mark 
 the coming day of wrath, and that under the head 
 of the seventh seal, the Spirit proceeds to traverse 
 * Michaelis, vol. iv. p. oOS. + Vol. i. p. 309. 
 
8 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. viii. 1 6. 
 
 the ground over again, distributing those visi- 
 tations into their details, as they will affect first 
 the Apostate Jews, and then the arrogant and 
 oppressing Gentiles. The series of the seals not 
 being exhausted in bringing out the great crisis 
 pourtrayed in Chapter VI., but one of them being 
 thus reserved, as a medium of transition to the 
 visions under the trumpets and vials, serves to 
 intimate that the consummation presented to the 
 reader, is still in suspense. It is as though in 
 having our attention drawn to a pendent chain of 
 seven links, just as we got to the contemplation 
 of the last in order, we saw it detached from its 
 place in succession, and used as a ring wherefrom 
 to hang a parallel and conterminous chain of 
 double the number of links. This would signi- 
 ficantly indicate that our survey of the original 
 chain were not complete, till we ranged over its 
 fellow links, all but interwoven with it. Thus, 
 the Christian reader as he sees the seventh seal 
 employed to introduce the trumpets and vials, is 
 led at once to interpret them, in some way or 
 other under it. He might expect it in due course 
 to prove itself to be the closing scene of the 
 drama ; but instead of this, he perceives that it 
 discharges its import into two other series of 
 announcements, and therefore he has fiist to 
 review these, ere he reaches the designed issue. 
 Perhaps, indeed, it is the seventh trumpet, and 
 
CH. viii. 1 — 6] INTERPRETED. 9 
 
 the seventh vial, which contain the exact burden 
 of the seventh seal, which is merely said, in its 
 place, to have been opened ; but, then, in bringing 
 out this burden, the Spirit, as is His wont, 
 rehearses in detail, the preceding events which 
 had been condensed in the seals. By this method 
 of understanding the. subject, the relative position 
 of the seventh seal may be simplified to the 
 reader, and the Author begs it may be combined 
 with what has been already suggested.* 
 
 There was silence in ]ieaven.'\ This observance of 
 silence seems to indicate that solemn reverence 
 pervades the ranks of God's attendant hosts, 
 whilst he deliberates, as it were, in His counsel 
 chamber, on the execation of His threatened 
 judgments. It is in this sense, keeping silence is 
 referred to in the book of Job : " Unto me men 
 gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my 
 counsel." Job. xxix. 21. The imminence, moreover, 
 of the outburst of Divine wrath now about to 
 take place, as something marvellous, may well be 
 associated with silence on the part of those who 
 are made cognizant of it. Thus, we read, that 
 at the future restoration of the Jewish people, 
 eclipsing, as it will, the wonders of their exodus 
 from Egypt, '* the nations shall see and be con- 
 founded at all their might : they shall lay their 
 hand upon their mouth, their ear shall be deaf* 
 Micah vii. 16. 
 
 * See vol. i., page 309—311. 
 
 b3 
 
10 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. viii. 1 — 6. 
 
 And as there is silence in heavien at the mani- 
 fested preparation for judgment, so we find the 
 inhabitants of earth in their turn, called to the 
 same, as the dread crisis to them approaches: 
 " The Lord is in his holy temple : let all the earth 
 keep silence before him." Hab. ii. 20. Again, 
 " Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: for he is 
 raised up out of his holy habitation." Zech. ii. 13. 
 To the same effect, the Prophet Zephaniah pro- 
 claims : — " Hold thy peace at the presence of the 
 Lord God ; for the day of the Lord is at hand : 
 for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath 
 bid his guests." Zeph. i. 7. And then follows 
 the detailed recital of His strokes of anger as they 
 will fall on various classes of the wicked. Thus, 
 also, we read in the Psalms, evidently referring 
 to this portentous period : — " Thou, even thou, 
 art to be feared ; and who may stand in thy sight 
 when once thou art angry. Thou didst cause 
 judgment to be heard from heaven, the earth 
 feared and was still, when God arose to judgment 
 to save all the meek of the earth." Ps. Ixxvi. 7 — 9. 
 And, here, the designed purport of God's judicial 
 interposition, as indicated by the words " to save 
 all the meek of the eartK^ remarkably corresponds, 
 as we shall presently see, with what is represented 
 as evoking the trumpet woes of this book, namely, 
 the prayers of the righteous ascending like incense 
 before the Lord of Sabaoth. 
 
CcL. viii. 1 6.] INTERPRETED. 11 
 
 About the space of half an hour.] This duration 
 may be intended to harmonize with the time ' 
 usually occupied by the silent worshippers in the \ 
 temple whilst the Priest retired to j^erform his ' 
 office of burnins: incense. What follows in verses 
 3 and 4 will be seen to confirm this. 
 
 Ver. 2. And I saw the seven angels lohich stood 
 before God^ We have had no mention made of 
 these before, unless we identify them with " the 
 seven spirits " referred to in ch. iv. 5, which com- 
 parison with ch. i. 4, shews to be inadmissible. 
 It would appear, then, they are specially dignified 
 functionaries of heaven, executors of the Divine 
 behests. And as Solomon's attendants were 
 congratulated by the Queen of Sheba for their 
 nearness to their Royal Master, so here it is 
 recorded of these Ministers of the Lord who do 
 His pleasure, that ^^ they stood before God^^ 
 
 And to them vrere given seven trumpets.] 
 Trumpets were used among the Israelites, accord- 
 ing to the Divine command, for the calling of 
 assemblies, and giving signal to the people to 
 move from their encampments, and as an alarm 
 when they were to go forth to war. They were 
 also wont to be sounded at the celebration of 
 the solemn festivals, instituted of God, and 
 especially over the burnt offerings, and sacrifices of 
 peace offerings. See Num. x. Now, the judgments 
 coming upon the earth, and which the prophet 
 
12 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. viu. 1 G. 
 
 Zephaniah just cited proclaims, amidst the silent 
 awe of mankind, are compared, as we have seen, 
 to the Lord's preparation of a sacrifice \ and the 
 period of these judgments is emphatically called 
 
 " THE DAY OF THE LoRD's SACRIFICE," aS though 
 
 His holy indignation against transgression shall 
 then be satisfied. Accordingly, identifying with this 
 period, that which is rehearsed under the series 
 of visions now opening before us, it seems in 
 keeping with the spirit's comparison, in the Old 
 Testament, that it should be associated with the 
 sounding of trumpets. But what I conceive to 
 be principally applicable here is the fact, that the 
 great solemnities of the seventh month amongst 
 the Jews, which yet altogether await their anti- 
 typical events, in the consummated humiliation 
 and final blessedness of that people, were ushered 
 in by an especial blowing of trumpets ; and so in 
 the prophet Joel, which plainly contemplates these 
 same events, the prefatory summons is given to 
 " blow a trumpet in Zion." Joel ii. 1. Connecting 
 this with the remarkable employment of trum.pets 
 on the occasion of the taking of Jericho, the 
 earnest to the children of Israe] of their instalment 
 into the promised inheritance of Canaan, we seem 
 to be furnif^hed with an intelligent clue to the 
 general design of the Apocalyptic trumpets as 
 now introduced. In the fii'st place, we read in 
 the history of the overthrow of Jericho, that 
 
OH. viii. 1 — 6.] INTERPRETED. 13 
 
 '^ seven^^ trumpets, the precise number we have 
 here, were then put in requisition. Secondly, it 
 is emphatically recorded that when the seven 
 trumpets were blown by the priests according to 
 the prescribed routine, then ^' the wall of the city 
 fell down flat, so that the people went up into the 
 city, every man straight before him, and they took 
 the city," (Joshua vi. 20); hereupon ensuing the 
 exterminating ruin pronounced by God, upon its 
 inhabitants. Now this recital has its obvious 
 counterpart in the great catastrophe contained 
 under the seventh trumpet: — " i^-ud the great 
 city was divided into three parts, and the cities 
 of the nations fell : and great Babylon came in 
 remembrance before God, to give unto her the 
 cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath." 
 Rev. xvi. 19. The reader will indeed perceive 
 that proximately this announcement belongs to 
 the seventh tial. But he is reminded of what 
 has been already observed,* that, of the outburst 
 of the Divine vengeance under all the vials, the 
 seventh trum^^et is as an overture ushering it in. 
 Therefore, the seventh trumpet may be well 
 regarded as virtually comprising what is here 
 assigned to it. 
 
 As, then, when the trumpets were blown at 
 Jericho, Israel of old may be said to have 
 triumphed over their enemies, so when the visions 
 Vol. I. page 3 J 1. 
 
14 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. viu. 1 — 6. 
 
 rehearsed under these symbols in the Apocalypse 
 are accomplished^ their representatives — the nation 
 that shall he, will, under the true Joshua, discomfit 
 the Antichristian confederacy of the earth, yet to 
 be arrayed against them ; and " the kingdoms of 
 this world becoming the kingdoms of our Lord 
 and of his Christ," the first dominion shall come 
 to the daughter of Zion. Antecedently, however — 
 upon this favoured people themselves, terrible 
 judgments shall descend to chastise and humble 
 them, and purge out the apostates ; and so ere the 
 seventh trumpet sounds, which is pregnant with 
 the doom of their oppressing enemies, they will 
 have undergone the visitations depicted under the 
 six preceding. 
 
 Ver.3. And another angel came?^ The seven angels 
 entrusted with the execution of judgment under 
 the trumpets, having been just introduced, as it 
 were, on the stage, the vision is suspended, in 
 order to give information touching one great 
 cause of such judgment which will have been in 
 operation ; and this is conveyed by another vis;ion, 
 in which another angel appears, evidently not the 
 Lord Jesus, as has been strangely thought by 
 commentators, but a created being belonging to 
 the same category as those previously mentioned. 
 
 And stood at the altar.^ This altar, called in 
 the next clause " the golden altar,'''' was in the holy 
 place. It was at this altar that the priests daily 
 
CH. viii. 1 6.j INTERPRETED. 15 
 
 oifered up incense whilst the people were praying 
 without. 
 
 Having a golden censer^ The introduction 
 here of the golden censer, which it appears was 
 used by the High Priest only when he went into 
 the holiest of all, on the great day of atonement,* 
 whereas they were brazen censers which were 
 used ordinarily,t seems intended to intimate, that 
 the oiFering about to be noticed finds acceptance 
 with God, in the j^ower of full priestly mediation, 
 and we know that this inheres in the Lord Jesus 
 alone. 
 
 Ver. 3, 4. And there ivas given unto him much 
 ince7ise, that he should offer it loith the prayers of 
 all saints upon the golden altar which was before 
 the throne. And the smoke of the i7icense, which 
 came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up 
 before God out of the angeVs hand^ The use of 
 incense, here, is manifestly to represent that the 
 prayers which it accompanies find acceptance 
 before God, solely through the intercession of the 
 Lord Jesus, of which incense may be said to be 
 the symbol. Thus we read in the Gospel by 
 St. Luke, that as Zacharias was burning incense 
 in the temple, according to the custom of the 
 priest's office, the whole multitude of the people 
 were praying without, at that very time. And 
 in the 141st Psalm it is written, "Let my prayer 
 
 * Joseph. Antiq. xvi. 4. 4. h Numbers x\'i. 6, 39. 
 
16 THE APOCALYPSE [ciI. viii. 1— 6. 
 
 be set forth before thee as incense." The act 
 of the Angel strikingly accords with that en- 
 joined on Aaron, when Israel murmured in the 
 wilderness : — " Take a censer and put fire therein 
 from off the altar, and put on incense, and go 
 quickly into the congregation," Num. xvi. 46; 
 only then the object was " to make an atonement ^^ 
 as it is added, for the sin which had been com- 
 mitted, whilst here it is to pourtray another 
 phase of the antitype, ^r^r/^/^r wafted heavenwards. 
 Such, then, is the cause of the commissioning of 
 the seven trumpet angels. Prayer is, at this 
 period, being offered to God by His witnessing 
 people left on the earth ; and, especially, by those 
 in the now reinhabited Jerusalem, who will sigh 
 and cry for all the abominations done in their 
 midst. Ezek. ix. 4. They will call upon Him in 
 the day of trouble, and He will proceed, at 
 once, to deliver them. Had the sounding of the 
 trumpets immediately ensued upon the appearance 
 of the seven angels, this precious truth, that God 
 is a prayer-hearing, and prayer-answering God, 
 would not be com.mendcd to us. But no sooner 
 are the agents of judgment recognized by the 
 inspired Seer, than the vision is interrupted by 
 this parenthetic scene, to shew whence the judg- 
 ment comes, what the secret springs are, which 
 set in motion the w^heels of an avenging God. It is 
 not, of course, that any angel or other than the 
 
cir. viii. 1 — 6.] interpreted. 17 
 
 Lord Jesus is a Priestly mediator between man 
 and God ; but to an angel is committed the 
 rehearsal, ministerially, of this sif^nificant outward 
 act, which necessarily implies that the true 
 High Priest has been discharging His gracious 
 functions. 
 
 Ver. 5. And the angel took the censer, and filled 
 it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earthy 
 This seems, obviously, to symbolize the Divine 
 answer to the prayers just presented j and, as 
 already said, it is an answer of judgment. The 
 fire of the altar, the emblem of God's holiness, 
 (and it is the brazen altar we are to understand 
 here ; for upon the golden altar was no fire except 
 what was in the censer, when deposited on it) 
 now comes into contact with the earth, and the 
 plagues, the recital of which follows, are let loose; 
 just as when " the ashes of the furnace''^ (no doubt 
 the same sacred fire of the sacrificial altar) were 
 sprinkled by Moses, " it became a boil breaking 
 forth with blains upon man, and upon beast," 
 Ex. ix. 10. That this is the import of the casting 
 the sacred fire to the earth is confirmed by the 
 prophet Ezekiel, where the precisely similar act 
 is employed as a signal for the descent of strokes 
 of judgment. Ezek. x. 2. 
 
 And there were voices, and thunderings, and 
 lightnings, and an earthquake.^ These concomi- 
 tants of the scene remind us of the Lord's 
 
18 THE APOCAL'i'PSE [cH. viii. 7 — 13. 
 
 appearance on Mount Sinai. They augur that 
 righteous judgnient is now about to proceed forth 
 from the Divine presence. See on ch. iv. 3., 
 vol. 1, p. 267. 
 
 Ver. 6. And the seven angels which had the 
 'seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.] The 
 first vision is now resumed. The Apostle having 
 commenced its recital, had paused for a moment to 
 give, under another vision, the information just 
 considered. This parenthesis being finished, he 
 continues his original subject. 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 SECTION SECOND. 
 
 Verses 7 — 13. 
 
 7 The first angel souuded, and there followed hail and fire 
 mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the eai-th : and the 
 third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. 
 
 8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great moun- 
 tain burning with fire was cast into the sea : and the third part of 
 the sea became blood ; 
 
 9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and 
 had life, died ; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. 
 
 10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from 
 heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part 
 of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters ; 
 
 11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood : and the third 
 part of the waters became wormwood ; and many men died of the 
 waters, because they were made bitter. 
 
CH. viii. 7 13.] INTERPRETED. 19 
 
 12 Aud the fourth augel sounded, aud the third part of the sun 
 was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of 
 the stars ; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day 
 shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. 
 
 13 And 1 beheld, and heard an augel flying through the midst 
 of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabi- 
 ters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the 
 three angels, which are yet to sound ! 
 
 Ver. 7. The first angel sounded, and there 
 followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they 
 loere cast upon the earth.'] There is nothing here 
 about heresies, or the invasions of armies, as is 
 traditionally believed, but a plain reference to a 
 stroke of judgment inflicted on the earth, or, the 
 land, as it may be taken — that of Judea. The 
 latter rendering is preferable, as more consistent 
 with the chastening aspect of the tenor of these 
 visions towards the Jewish people. 
 
 Comparing scripture with scripture, we have 
 light thrown upon the literal interpretation that 
 puts it beyond all reasonable doubt. For example, 
 we read in the prophet Joel the parallel announce- 
 ment : " I will shew wonders in the heavens, and 
 in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke." 
 Joel ii. 30. Here there is no metaphor, at least 
 it is not pretended that the language relates to any 
 political or ecclesiastical event. Why, then, should 
 it be so understood in the Apocalypse ? Besides, 
 for the literal interpretation we have an actual 
 precedent in one of the plagues visited on Egypt 
 
^0 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. viii. 7 13. 
 
 of old : "And Moses stretched forth his rod toward 
 heaven ; and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and 
 the fire ran along upon the ground ; and the Lord 
 rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was 
 hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, 
 such as there was none like it in all the land of 
 Egypt since it became a nation." Ex. ix. 23, 24. 
 Here is a plain historical record of what has been; 
 and why should w^e hesitate to believe that the 
 like shall he again ? It is not mentioned, indeed, 
 that the hail and the fire in Egypt was mingled 
 with hhod, but we can easily conceive of this 
 additional accompaniment belonging to "the great 
 and terrible day of the Lord." Lideed, the 
 prophet Joel, as we have seen, emphatically 
 specifies it in his reference. 
 
 And the third part of trees was hurnt up, and 
 all green grass ivas hurnt up.] Such is the efiect 
 of this plague, and very naturally — the vegetation 
 of the land suffers. This, probably, is part of the 
 detail of the fourth seal, which, as we have seen, 
 pourtrays the prevalence of famine. The famine 
 in question, as it will affect the Jews, may be 
 produced by this very disaster coming upon Judea. 
 May it not be that, also, which the prophet Joel 
 mourns over, saying : " Alas for the day ! for the 
 day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction 
 from the Almighty shall it come. Is not the meat 
 cut off" before our eyes, The seed is rotten 
 
CH. vlii. 7 13] INTERPRETED. 21 
 
 under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, 
 the barns are broken down ; for the corn is withered. 
 How do the beasts groan ! the herds of cattle are 
 perplexed, because they have no pasture ; yea, 
 the flocks of sheep are made desolate, O Lord, 
 to thee will I cry : for the fire hath devoured the 
 pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath 
 burned all the trees of the field. The beasts of 
 the field cry also unto thee : for the rivers of 
 waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured 
 the pastures of the wilderness." Joel i. 15 — 20. 
 (See also Isa. xv. 6, Jer. xiv. S — 6.) It is observ- 
 able that in this lamentation of the prophet, while 
 the breaking doion of the hams implies — at least is 
 consistent with — the operation of the plague of 
 hail, the devouring element of fire is expressly 
 named, as in requisition. Surely the coincidence 
 between this and the tenor of the first trumpet 
 should not be overlooked. Does not the prophet 
 Habakkuk, also, represent the exercise of faith, 
 which, when this time of calamity comes, shall be 
 so acceptable to God from the tried Jewish 
 remnant : "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, 
 neither shall fruit be in the vines ; the labour of 
 the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no 
 meat ; the flock shall be cut ofiT from the fold, and 
 there shall be no herd in the stalls : Yet I will 
 rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my 
 salvation." Ilab. iii. 17, 18. That the devastation 
 
22 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. viii. T 13. 
 
 predicted is said to be confined to a " third part of 
 the trees," indicates, doubtless, that the Lord 
 proposes not making a full end of His Jewish 
 people, but that in the midst of judgment He 
 remembers mercy. (See Ezek. v. 11, 12.) Such 
 mitigation, it is to be observed, accompanies not 
 the visitation under the vials. Nor does it extend 
 even here beyond the trees. The grass is spoken 
 of as altogether burnt up. Perhaps this discrimi- 
 nation should lead us to regard the recital here as 
 giving a detail of the fourth seal. Therein we saw 
 that amidst the prevalence of famine, in respect to 
 the grain crops of wheat and barley, which may 
 well be comprised under the head of " all green 
 grass," the command is given, " hurt not the wine 
 and the oil." May not this then relate to the 
 exemption of the vines and the oliv<5 trees in 
 Palestine, as included in the tico thirds of the trees, 
 which it appears are not burnt up ? 
 
 Ver. 8. A7id the second angel sounded, ayid as 
 it were a great mountain hurning with fire was 
 cast into the sea : and the third part of the sea 
 became blood.] God's hand still smites : but here, 
 again, we have a parallel in the sacred history. 
 *^And the Lord spake unto Moses, say unto 
 Aaron, take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand 
 upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, 
 upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and 
 upon all their pools of water, that they may 
 
CH. viii. T 13.] INTERPRETED. 23 
 
 become blood ; and that there may be blood 
 
 throughout all the land of Egypt And Moses 
 
 and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded, and 
 he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that 
 were in the river in the sight of Pharaoh and in 
 the sight of his servants, and all the waters that were 
 in the river were turned to blood. And the fish 
 that was in the river died ; and the river stank, 
 and the Eyptians could not drink of the water of 
 the river ; and there was blood throughout all the 
 land of Egypt." Ex. vii. 19—21. The only 
 diiference between the plague thus recited and 
 that before us, is in regard to the department of 
 creation affected, and the instrumentality em- 
 ployed. In Egypt they were the inland waters 
 that underwent this appalling change. Here it is 
 the sea. The rod of Moses was then used ; now 
 it is the injection of a burning mountain. 
 
 1. As to the sea denoted, it is, doubtless, the 
 Mediterranean, or " great sea," as the Hebrews 
 called it, which washed their coasts. 
 
 2. As to the great mountain burning with fire, 
 cast into it, marvellous though it be, what forbids 
 but that we should suppose it to be some com- 
 bustible material body condensed in the laboratory 
 of the atmosphere by Divine power, or some 
 real local mountain dislocated from its place and 
 precipitated into the Mediterranean, so as to affect 
 the ports of Palestine. To favor this latter 
 
24 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. viii. 7 13. 
 
 conjecture we have a remarkable allusion in 
 the book of Psalms : " God is our refuge and 
 strength, a very present help in trouble. There- 
 fore will not we fear, though the earth he removed, 
 and though the mountains he carried into the 
 midst of the sea ; Though the waters thereof roar 
 and be troubled, though the mountains shake with 
 the swelling thereof." Ps. xlvi. 1 — 3. This whole 
 Psalm is evidently the prepared utterance of a 
 remnant of faithful Jews in the latter day, 
 triumphing in Jehovah as their refuge, amidst 
 the most terrifying phenomena going on around 
 them. May we not then identify them with that 
 proportion of true witnesses to God who, by 
 and bye, will have their lot cast in the Jewish 
 land, amongst their apostate nation, and who will 
 stand unharmed and unintiniidated by the Divine 
 demonstrations against the guilty. Sympathizing 
 with the two illustrious witnesses for God, who 
 will then be occupied in Jerusalem with their 
 miraculous testimony,* may not these faithful 
 ones participate in the administration of this very 
 judgment, thus fulfilling the striking intimation of 
 our Lord, when on the occasion of his performino: 
 himself a significant miracle of judgment directed 
 against the unbelieving nation, he said to his 
 disciples, *' Verily I say unto you. If ye have 
 faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this 
 * See ch. xi. 
 
CH. viii. 7 13.] INTERPRETED. 25 
 
 which is done to the fig tree, but also, if ye shall 
 say unto this mountain, " Be thou removed, and 
 be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done. And 
 all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, 
 believing, ye shall receive." Mat. xxi. 21, 22. 
 
 It is observable also, that, in the prophet Jeremiah, 
 Babylon — doubtless, as contemplated in its revival 
 in the Apocalypse* — is sentenced to become this 
 exact object, a bur?it mountain : " Behold, I am 
 against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the 
 Lord, which destroyest all the earth ; and I will 
 stretch out my hand upon thee, and roll thee 
 down from the rocks, and will make thee a hurnt 
 mountain.''^ Jer. li. 25. What is the designed 
 connection then, we may ask, between the end 
 of Babylon, thus described, and the burning 
 mountain before us, taken literally? Perhaps 
 it is this, that, as Babylon will be the centre 
 of that awful system of wickedness, which will 
 have propagated itself among the Jews returned 
 to their land, God hereby makes it in the 
 very symbol of its destruction one means of His 
 sore retribution upon that people. Just as the 
 golden calf, the ensign of their idolatry, of old, 
 was dealt with by Moses, w^hen " he took and 
 burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and 
 strawed it upon the water," and made the guilty 
 parties drink of it. Ex. xxxii. 20. Here the object 
 
 * Vol. i. p. 161, 304. 
 VOL. II. — 2. c 
 
26 ' THE APOCALYPSE [cH. viii. 7 13. 
 
 of their sin, reduced to ruin, was rendered their 
 punishment, which penetrated, we can imagine, 
 in its painful consequences, into their inmost 
 frame. And, similarly, it may be ordered of God, 
 that, by the burning mountain, — the already 
 ordained emblem of Babylon's destruction, — the 
 Jewish accomplices in her wickedness shall, at 
 once, be made to feel the Divine wrath, and discern 
 its provoking cause. Whilst, in the eyes of the 
 faithful remnant, this mode of judgment will also 
 vividly rehearse the appointed downfal of their 
 then imposing enemy. Babylon's own doom they 
 will hence learn, is surely coming, when, amidst 
 all her ease and arrogance, " she shall be utterly 
 burned with fire : for strong is the Lord God that 
 judgeth her." Rev. xviii. 7, 8. 
 
 It may here occur to some readers, concerning 
 what is said of a proportion of the sea becoming 
 blood, that, perhaps this may be the natural result 
 of the miraculous agency just rehearsed. And, 
 indeed, such a combination of convulsion by sea and 
 land^ accompanied by conflagration, in the maritime 
 regions of Palestine, may easily be conceived to 
 produce extensive loss of life, in which, also, blood 
 may be shed, so as to ensanguine the surrounding 
 ocean, like to what has been recorded as the result of 
 some naval engagements. Still, with the precedent 
 referred to, of what occurred in Egypt, wherein 
 the similar plague of blood was certainly not the 
 
CH. viii. 7 13.] INTERPRETED. 27 
 
 issue of any sanguinary destruction of life, we 
 ought to be slow to speculate upon the operation of 
 such cause here; especially as there is no mention 
 made of it in the vision, beyond what occurs in 
 the next clause, which merely speaks of mortality 
 ensuing amongst all the marine tribes. 
 
 Ver. 9. A?icl the third part of the creatures 
 which were in the sea, and had life, died,] This 
 may be regarded as a natural consequence of the 
 shock and derangement, which shall have been 
 sustained by their native element. Thus, the 
 judgment ascends nearer and nearer as from the 
 extremities of nature, according to the order of its 
 creation, towards man, the guilty head. Vegetable 
 life had suiFered first, now it is the sea and its 
 tribes of occupants. The same thing is recorded 
 to have happened among the plagues of Egypt, 
 when the waters that were in the river were turned 
 to blood, it is added, " and the fish that was in the 
 river, died." Ex. vii. 21. 
 
 A7id the third part of the ships were destroyed^ 
 That is, the shipping, we may conceive, in and 
 about the Jewish harbours in the Mediterranean, 
 the sea allucre(d:i:5T' No doubt, with the general 
 revival of the East, its commerce will receive a 
 mighty impulse ; and reoccupied Palestine — its 
 resources now developing under the energy of its 
 Antichristian rulers — will not be unvisited by the 
 spirit of commercial enterprise. Accordingly, we 
 c2 
 
28 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. viil. 7 13. 
 
 read of " the shps of Tarshish " amongst other 
 objects of proud complacency, upon whicli the 
 coming- day of the Lord shall empty its " burden 
 of woe " (Isa. ii. 16) ; and it may be by means of 
 this very judgment, under the second trumpet, 
 when these ships, with others, shall be waiting to 
 discharge their merchandise into JeAvish ports. 
 We know that, in former times, the merchant navy 
 of Solomon were wont to repair to Tarshish ; and 
 once every three years came the ships of that 
 region to Judea, " bringing gold and silver, ivory, 
 and apes, and j^eacocks." 2 Chron. ix. 21. 
 
 Ver. 10. And the third angel sounded, and there 
 fell a great star from heacen, hurning as it toere a 
 la?nj).] Nothing forbids the taking this literally, and 
 the portent of a falling star may well be conceived 
 as adding to the consternation of the period con- 
 templated. But, further, as we saw that the 
 burning mountain, which constitutes the disastrous 
 agency under the preceding trumpet, was, at the 
 same time, the Spirit's symbol of the doomed 
 Babylon ; so the star employed here may bear a 
 similar relation to the denounced Antichrist ; for 
 he is derided in the prophet Isaiah under this very 
 image : — *^ How art thou fallen from heaven, O 
 Lucifer, son of the morning!" Isa. xiv. 12. And 
 thus will the Antichristian Jews be reminded, by 
 the employment of a fallen star, for the infliction 
 of a fresh stroke of judgment upon them, that to 
 
CII. viii. 7 13.] INTERPRETED. 29 
 
 their league with this wicked one, their chastise- 
 ment is to be ascribed ; and the faithful remnant 
 Avill herein read, for their comfort, that yet a 
 little while, and the blaspheming usurper will be 
 dethroned, and the true king installed in His 
 inalienable glory. 
 
 Buniing as it ivere a Ia??ij).] The Greek word 
 here rendered hmp, was commonly employed by 
 the ancients to denote a meteor, and the shooting 
 of such body through the air, with a long horn of 
 light, is matter of not uncommon observation among 
 ourselves. Let us imagine, then, a great star of 
 this kind falling from the heavens, and bursting 
 in fiery fragments over the Jewish land, and we 
 have the scene here presented to us. 
 
 And it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and 
 upon the fountains of tDaters.'\ The vegetation of 
 the earth was affected under the first trumpet ; 
 then the sea, under the second ; and now, under 
 the third, the inland waters. Upon the salubrity 
 of these, we know how much depends, at all times, 
 the refreshment of both man and beast. Still, the 
 like moderation obtains, as in the preceding- 
 visitations. It is only the third part of the waters 
 upon whi(^ the baleful influence descends. 
 
 Yer. 11. And the name of the star is called 
 Wormwood^ The design of this naine seems to 
 be, to mark the more emphatically, the connection 
 of the star with the disastrous event recited in the 
 next clause : — 
 
so THE APOCALYPSE [CH. viil. 7 V3. 
 
 A?id the thwd part of the waters became worm- 
 wood^ A complete privation, so far, of the 
 healthful fluid, would be more bearable than this, 
 so that here is an aggravation of the calamity of 
 drought. Just as it was an aggravation of their 
 trial to Israel of old, in the wilderness, when in 
 their extremity of thirst, they came to water, but 
 found it bitter that they could not drink it. Ex. xv. 
 23. And, no doubt this judgment was in the mind 
 of God, when, by His servant Moses, He warned 
 Israel of the cursing, and vexation, and mis chiefs ^ 
 which their apostacy should bring upon them in 
 the latter day (Deut. xxviii. 20); and when, by 
 the prophet Jeremiah, the minute details of that 
 apostacy— strikingly parallel to other predictions 
 of the future — are followed up by a threatening to 
 this exact eflect : — " Therefore thus saith the Lord 
 of hosts, the God of Israel ; Behold, I will feed 
 them, even this people, loith wormivood, and give 
 them ivater of gall to drinkP Jer. ix. 15. 
 
 It may be profitable to glance at the contem- 
 plated condition of the Jewish people, according to 
 Jeremiah, when this retribution comes upon them. 
 It fills up the allusions to their case, in connection 
 with the trumpet visions in the Apocalypse. 
 
 1. Their licentiousness of life is noticed: " They 
 be all adulterers," says the prophet, "an assembly 
 of treacherous men." ver. 2. This agTees with 
 the character akeady remarked on, as given to 
 
CH. viii. 7 — 13.] INTERPRETED. 81 
 
 Jerusalem, in chap. xi. of this book, — " the city 
 which is spiritually called Sodom ; also, with the 
 features of sensuality and uncleanness, which are 
 recited in the Epistles of Jude and Peter, as 
 marking the wickedness of the last times. 
 
 2. Their perfidiousness in their social and even 
 flimily relations : " Take ye heed," continues the 
 prophet, " every one of his neighbour, and trust ye 
 not in any brother : for every brother will utterly 
 supplant, and every neighbour will walk with 
 slanders." ver. 4. And this, again, harmonizes 
 with the circumstances of domestic treachery 
 (Mica,h vii. 5, 6) which our blessed Lord applies 
 to the experience of His Jewish disciples, which, 
 doubtless, had a fulfilment at the time of His first 
 advent, but relates more especially to the period 
 of the second.* 
 
 8. Hereupon, the Lord announces His purposes 
 of chastisement : " Therefore, thus saith the Lord 
 of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them ; 
 for how shall I do for the daughter of my people ? 
 .... Shall I not visit them for these things ? saith 
 the Lord : shall not my soul be avenged on such a 
 nation as this ? " ver. 7, 9, And this chastisement, 
 we find, when we come to examine it, consists of 
 just such strokes of wrath as are presented to us 
 generally under the first three trumpets. " The 
 mountains" and ^Hhe habitations of the wilderness " 
 
 * See Mat. x. 34—39. 
 
32 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. viii. T la. 
 
 — the lowlands J as we should call them, '^ are 
 burned up. The fowl of the heavens and the beast 
 are fled . . .the land perisheth and is burned up." 
 ver. 10, 12. To this, succeeds the threatening 
 already adverted to, concerning the wormwood 
 and gall, which are to be given them to drink, 
 and the execution of which is here represented in 
 the vision of the fourth trumpet. 
 
 And many men died of the waters, because they 
 were made hitter.^ Such will be the consequence 
 of partaking of the nauseous draught. So essential 
 to life is the element of water, that men will not 
 refrain from even this forbidding supply ; and yet, 
 when they do^ there will be death in the indulgence, 
 attended, it may be, with the revolting symptoms 
 which accompanied the drinking of the waters of 
 jealousy by the adulteress, for tJiey also were called 
 " hitter waters.^^ See Numbers v. 18, &c. Many, 
 we can conceive, will be the exploring searches 
 for the pure stream which shall be made in that 
 day, like as when Ahab, in the drought of old, 
 divided the land between him and Obadiah, "to 
 pass throughout it unto all fountains of water, 
 and all brooks, if peradventure they might save 
 even the horses and mules alive." 1 Kings xviii. 5. 
 But how tantalizing the result here, when, in many 
 places, the water found shall be corrupted in its 
 very source. Still, in the merciful reserve in the 
 midst of all this of tioo thirds of the waters, we 
 
en. viii. 7 — 13.] iNTEiiPRErED. 33 
 
 see tliat a supply will be accessible to some ; and 
 doubtless, the faithful reiiniant Avill be thence 
 provided for. As the prophet says : — " He that 
 walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly ; he 
 that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh 
 his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his 
 ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes 
 from seeing evil ; He shall dwell on high : his 
 place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks : 
 bread shall he given him ; his waters shall he sure.''^ 
 Isa. xxxiii. 15, 16. Perhaps, also, it is to the same 
 period that the following promise refers : — " When 
 the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, 
 and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will 
 hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. 
 / will open rivers in high places, and fountains in 
 the midst of the vallies^ Isa. xli. IT, 18. 
 
 Ver. 12. And the fourth angel sounded, and the 
 third jKirt of the sun loas smitten, and the third 
 part of the moon, and the third pay t of the stars, 
 so as the third part of them was darkened, and the 
 day shone not for a third part of it, and the night 
 likewise^ Thus, another department of creation 
 is employed of God to minister judgment. The 
 sun, moon, and stars, are smitten, so that, for a 
 third part of the day and night, the rebellious 
 Jews are deprivecl of the ordinary enjoyment of 
 light. It is a repetition of the plague (and, 
 doubtless, they will call it to mind) which was, 
 c3 
 
34 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. viii. 7 13. 
 
 inflicted on their Egyptian enemies fonnerlyy 
 when, upon Moses stretching forth his hand 
 toward heaven, " there was thick darkness over 
 all the land of Egypt for three days," while there 
 was light in the land of Goshen. (Ex. x. 22.) 
 Now, a sad reverse will be experienced, the 
 appalling darkness which came upon the Egyptians 
 will be their own portion in their land, unextended, 
 perhaps, as yet, to the Gentile territory around 
 them. And, is not this the judgment sealed 
 up among the Divine treasures^ to which Moses 
 alludes when he announces to Israel that in the 
 event of their apostacy, the Lord would smite 
 them, so that they should ^^ grope at noon-day, 
 as the blind gropeth in darkness ^^ Deut. xxviii. 29. 
 Does not the Prophet Amos, also, refer to this 
 period, when using almost the same words, he 
 declares : — '' It shall come to pass in that day, 
 saith the Lord God, that / will cause the sun to ga 
 down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the 
 clear day?^^ Amos viii. 9. Again, is it not the 
 fulfilment of this very sentence, over which the 
 righteous remnant are brought forward by Isaiah, 
 deploring the sins of their corrupt nation : — 
 '^ Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth 
 justice overtake us : we wait for light, but behold 
 obscurity ; for brightness, but we walk in dark- 
 ness. We grope for the wall like the blind, ayid 
 we grope as if ive had no eyes : we stumble at 
 
CH. viii. 7 13.J INTERPRETED. 35 
 
 noon-day as in the night. ^^ Isa. lix. 9, 10. To 
 these enquiries, surely there can be but the one 
 answer, when we find further, that according to 
 the Prophet Joel, amongst the calamitous accom- 
 paniments of " the great day of the Lord " — (the 
 period already identified as that contemplated in 
 this book) — darkness is emphatically included ; 
 indeed, it is denominated, ^'a. day of darkness ;" 
 and whatever else this indicates, it certainly 
 imports the literal idea when we read in con- 
 nexion with it : — " The sun and the moon shall he 
 dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.''^ 
 (Joelii.2,10.) 
 
 Let us still bear in mind, however, that in 
 the third part of the heavenly luminaries being 
 smitten, that is, this proportion only of the day 
 and night being affected by the phenomena of 
 darkness, a mitigation of the judgment is intended. 
 And, this is in keeping with wdiat the Lord says 
 elsewhere of the Jewish people themselves; "I 
 will not make a full end of thee."^^ Jer. xxx. 11. 
 No note of this kind occurs in regard to his 
 dealing with their Gentile oppressors, when their 
 time comes, under the outpouring of the vials. 
 On the contrary, all the judgments recited, in 
 their case, whilst similar in kind, are not only 
 unmitigated, but remarkably aggravated. 
 
 Hitherto, the Lord's chastisements of the proud 
 and unhumbled people has directly affected only 
 the inanimate parts of creation, with the inferior 
 
S6 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. viii. 7 — 13. 
 
 creatures. Now, tlie stroke is to come closer, 
 and fall upon their own persons. Accordingly, 
 proclamation is made to this efFectj and therein, 
 the three remaining trumpets are represented as 
 pregnant with woe, in an especial manner, to the 
 inhabiters of the Ia?id. I'he agency emplo^'cd, 
 in this introductory vision, is thus described : — 
 
 Yer. 13. And I beheld, and heard an angel 
 flying through the midst of heateri^ Some copies 
 read here an eagle, instead of an angel ; and it 
 appears the preponderance of authority attaches 
 to such reading. But it is very possible that 
 both words were in the original, signifying that 
 the angel in transacting his commission was 
 comparable to an eagle for swiftness ; and that 
 one word was omitted in some manuscripts, and 
 another w^ord, in others. And, the similarity of 
 the Greek character, at least, in termination, 
 — aerZv and ayyf\ov — may easily 'be conceived to 
 have led to this; the re.pective transcribers, after 
 writing one word, taking up their place in the 
 manuscript as though they had written both. 
 At all events, if both words cannot legitimately 
 be retained, it would seem that angel can least 
 consistently be dispensed with ; for of such 
 agency, and not of an eagle's, is it congruous to 
 predipate the utterance of the proclamation which 
 follo^^s '.-. — 
 
 " Saying with a loud voice, JVoe, woe, woe, to 
 
CH. viii. T 13 ] INTERPRETED. 37 
 
 the inliahiiers of the earth {land) hy reason of the 
 other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, 
 lohich are yet to sound.'''''] Such is the brief but 
 pregnant utterance of alarm which ushers in the 
 sounding- of the remaining three trumpets ; and, 
 in reference to their number, the doleful note is 
 thrice repeated. Nor can we doubt that it will 
 find its echo in the land of Palestine, " men's 
 hearts," as our Lord says, referring to the same 
 time, "failing them for fear, and for looking after 
 those things which are coming on the earth " 
 (the land). Luke xxi. 26. 
 
 In the prophet Joel, a like note is sounded, 
 " Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an 
 alarm in my holy mountain : let all tlie inhabitants 
 of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord 
 Cometh, for it is nigh at hand.'"' Joel ii. 1. Then 
 follows a vision of a terrifying agency ; the 
 counterpart, as we shall see, in many respects, 
 of what succeeds in the same order in the chapter 
 which aw^aits our consideration. 
 
 But let us pause here, for a moment, to admire 
 the mercy of God, in thus interrupting the course 
 of His judgments by an announcement of the 
 further and aggravated woes that are at hand. 
 Lor, surely, this is an admonition to the guilty 
 to pause, in their career of apostacy, and retrace 
 their steps, if, peradventure, they may find ad- 
 mission amongst the accepted remnant. Thus 
 
38 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. viii. 7— 13. 
 
 we know God dealt with Pharaoh, in inflicting 
 a similar series of visitations, an interval between 
 each being allowed for the haughty monarch to 
 improve by submission. Before the flood, also, 
 not only vv-as there the preaching of Noah for 
 one hundred and twenty years, but there was a 
 lingering process in the execution of the judgment; 
 for the destruction came not as it might have done, 
 in one fell swoop, but there first occurred a respite 
 of seven days; and then a j^eriod of forty days and 
 forty nights, during which the avenging element 
 was reaching its appointed height. For some 
 portion of this time, there must have been oppor- 
 tunity for repentance ; and that it was not given 
 altogether in vain, we have a hint furnished to us 
 in the First Epistle of Peter, when — speaking of 
 certain spirits in prison, to whom the Lord Jesus 
 went, in Spirit, whilst His body lay in the grave, 
 and preached, i.e. proclaimed the great work of 
 redemption which he had accomplished — the 
 apostle characterizes them as those " which some 
 time were disobedient when once the long suffering 
 of God waited in the days of Noah." This 
 language certainly encourages the thought that, 
 as the apostle speaks of the eflject to be contem- 
 plated in the excommunication of the incestuous 
 person, some of the antediluvians, after it was too 
 late for their temporal preservation, underwent 
 the " destruction of the flesh that the spirit might 
 he saved i?i the day of the Lord.^^ 1 Cor. v. 5. 
 
CH. ix. 1 12.] mTERPRETED. 39 
 
 Thus, in the midst of the U'umpet plagues, 
 here, and before they reach their interrsity', there 
 may be a turning to God on the part of some 
 humbled ones, who are moved by the ominous 
 utterance of the proclaiming angel, and so mercy 
 may rejoice in the midst of judgment. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SECTION FIKST. 
 Verses 1 — 12. 
 
 1 And tlie fifth augel sounded, and I saw a star fall from lieaveii 
 unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. 
 
 2 And he opened the bottomless pit ; and there arose a smoke 
 out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furiiace ; and the sun and 
 the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 
 
 3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth ; and 
 unto them was given power^ as the scorpions of the eaxth have 
 power. 
 
 4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the 
 grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree ; but 
 only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. 
 
 And to tliem it was given that they should not kill them, but 
 that they should be tormented five months : and their torment was 
 as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. 
 
 6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it ; 
 and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. 
 
 7 And the shapes of the locusts wej-e like unto horses prepared 
 unto battle ; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, 
 and their faces were as the faces of men. 
 
 8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were 
 as the teeth of lions. 
 
40 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. ix. 1 12. 
 
 Q And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron ; and 
 the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many 
 horses running to battle. 
 
 10 And they had tails like unto scoi-pions, and there were stings 
 in their tails : and their power was to hurt men five months. 
 
 11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the 
 bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but 
 in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. 
 
 12 One woe is past ; and, behold, there come two woes more 
 hereafter. 
 
 1 er. 1. A?id the fifth angel sounded, and I saw 
 a star fall from heaven unto the earthy By the 
 symbol of a fallen star, the Antichrist of the last 
 days, it has been observed,* is represented in the 
 Okl Testament ; and it may be amongst other 
 considerations, by reason of his relation to Satan, 
 whose great incarnation he will be, and of whose 
 precipitation, at length, from the heavens, which 
 he now infests, we are fully assured by the word 
 of proj)hecy. The actual vision, to this effect, is 
 given in chap. xii. of this book. But we also find 
 it ^nticipatively described by our blessed Lord, 
 on the occasion of the return of the seventy 
 disciples, when they reported, amongst the features 
 of success which had attended their mission, that 
 " even the devils were subject unto them through 
 His name." Luke x 17. Then, said Jesus unto 
 them," I beheld Satan as lightning fall fromheaven," 
 that is. His heart went with them whilst they 
 * See page 28. 
 
CH. ix. 1 12.] INTERPRETED. 41 
 
 prosecuted their work. And in every expulsion of 
 evil spirits from the bodies of men. He recognised 
 an earnest of the dethronement of their great 
 Leader. It is a like exercise of our Lord's faith, 
 penetrating into and realizing the iutui'e7 which 
 we have recorded in John xii. ol, where the 
 enquiry after Him by the Greeks, leading to the 
 contemplation of His approaching passion. He 
 exclaims: "Now is the judgment of this world ; 
 now shall the prince of this world be cast out." 
 
 Such catastrophe, however, having been already 
 sustained by Satan prior to the events here pre- 
 sented to us, (for, as has been submitted, the day 
 of the Lord begins with this,) why, it may be 
 enquired, is its occurrence now introduced under 
 the fifth trumpet ? To this it is replied — in order 
 to connect the agency of this exasperated adversary 
 with the torment which is about to be inflicted on 
 the apostate Jews. The casting down of Satan and 
 his hosts had been accomj)lished before ; but it is 
 here brought into view, under this vision, that it 
 may be seen through what medium the Divine 
 wisdom sees fit to execute His wrath. Nor docs 
 the language of the vision present a difficulty to 
 this, it rather favours it. For, in the original it is, — 
 "I saw a star fallen from heaven," not " fall from 
 heaven," as though a scene then transacting. It is 
 not the present tense that is used, but the past. 
 By this symbol, also, it is not necessary that we 
 
1 
 
 42 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. ix. 1 1^. 
 
 should identify the person of Satan. It is sufficient 
 if we recognise one of his satellites as intended, 
 through whom he acts. The reader will, of course, 
 observe, that in this transfer of the symbol from the 
 Antichrist, of whom we have before interpreted it, 
 its unity of meaning is still preserved. Belonging, 
 as it does, primarily to Satan, it is naturally 
 applicable to his allies and agents. 
 
 And to him was given the key of the hottomless 
 pit.] Of course, we are not to suppose that a literal 
 key is intended here, but that the wicked angel who 
 is cast down, has authority to open the bottomless 
 pit ; and of this the key given him is an emblem. 
 The expression, " the bottomless pit," is literally, 
 " the pit of the abyss," and denotes the place of 
 confinement for wicked spirits. 
 
 We see this by turning to the 8th of Luke. 
 We there read of the evil spirits which possessed 
 a certain demoniac, that after challenging the 
 Lord Jesus not to torment them before the time, 
 (i.e., doubtless the time of their formal judgment 
 which they knew had not then arrived,) " they 
 besought him that he would not command them 
 to go out into the deep," i.e., literally, the abyss, 
 the same term which is used here. v. oL Nor were 
 they consigned thither, but their own alternative 
 was assented to, that they should enter into the 
 herd of swine, there feeding; upon which, it is 
 said, "the herd ran violently down a steep place 
 
CH. ix. 1 — 12.] INTERPRETED. 43 
 
 into the lake, and were choked." Thus, it 
 appears, that these wicked spirits apprehended 
 their being sentenced to confinement in the abyss ; 
 and wherefore ? Because they knew that such 
 was the place of banishment, to which, with their 
 leader, they are to be consigned for a season. 
 See Rev. xx. 1 — 3. But, at the period to which the 
 vision relates,who are the tenants of this dark abode, 
 for whose egress it is opened? This is an important 
 preliminary question, to the determining the im- 
 port of the locust vision which follows. And, 
 surely, on this point the information ought not to 
 be lost upon us, which is furnished in the epistle of 
 Jude and 2 Peter, concerning the angels that sinned 
 in connection with the flood, — that " God cast them 
 down to hell,* and hath reserved them in ever- 
 lasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment 
 of the great day." 2 Pet. ii. 4, Jude 6. Here, it 
 is obvious, are formidable agents which may be 
 let loose for a season, to serve the Divine purpose 
 of judgment. 
 
 Ver. 2. And he opened the bottomless pit : and 
 there arose a smohe out of the pit, as the smohe of 
 a great fur7iace?[ Beneath the outer crust of the 
 earth inflammable materials are known to exist, 
 
 * Literally, liurled thejn into Tartarus. According to the Heathen, 
 this was " the. lowest and darkest part of the infernal regions, the 
 prison of the Titans," — a general description wliich suflficiently 
 answers to the import of the scriptural term — the abyss. 
 
44 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. ix. 1 — 12. 
 
 which the access of air frequently excites into 
 combustion. Hence, the sudden opening of any- 
 great cavity in the earth may be conceived to 
 give vent to a gush of subterranean fire. This 
 may naturally apply, then, to the present case. 
 But, further, the abyss here being that of incar- 
 cerated fiends, the kind of preliminary eruption 
 from it when opened, may well be described as 
 partaking of their characteristic properties who 
 are about to follow. Accordingly, as it is said, 
 V. 17, that out of the mouths of the locusts, as 
 the latter are called, ^' issued fire and smohe^^ 
 we read now of the same discharge being poured 
 forth, in this initiatory scene. 
 
 A7id the sun arid the air were darkeyied by 
 reason of the smoke of the pit.] This, again, is in 
 keeping, not only with the foul character of these 
 infernal agencies, but with the symbol by which 
 they are described — locusts : for, when such 
 voracious insects appear, as they frequently do, 
 in the East, ravaging the whole vegetable surface 
 of the land, it is recorded by travellers that they 
 darken the air by their numbers. And so we 
 read of the plague of locusts which God inflicted 
 upon the Egyptians, that " they covered the face 
 of the whole earth, so that the land was darkenedJ'^ 
 Ex. X. 15. 
 
 Ver. 3. And tliere came out of the s?noke locusts 
 upon the earthy The locusts here spoken of cannot 
 
CH. ix. 1 — 12.] INTERPRETED. 45 
 
 be natural locusts. As we proceed with the de- 
 scription, we shall see this. 
 
 And unto them ivas given poicer.] Thus, these 
 emissaries of evil, with all their malice, can do 
 nothing except as they are permitted by God. It 
 is with them as with Satan, who could not molest 
 Job till the Divine fiat was uttered : " Behold, all 
 that he hath is in thy power." Job i. 12. A hedge 
 had indeed been made by God around His servant, 
 so that the roaring lion ravened in vain against 
 him ; and, when he was allowed to get an opening 
 in this hedge, it was only that God might serve 
 Himself of the assailant. Hence, it has been well 
 said, " the Devil is a sustained witness for God.''"' 
 
 As the scorpions of the earth have poiver.^ That 
 is, to injure by stinging, as is more explicitly stated 
 afterwards. The qualification in the comparison — 
 " scorpions of the earth j''' we can recognize to be 
 called for, because, as we have seen, these agents 
 are not of the earth, but, as we may say, of hell. > 
 
 Ver. 4. And it teas commanded them that they X 
 should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any 
 green thing, neither any tree.] Let it be here 
 observed, that these are the very productions of 
 the earth which natural locusts devour. Their 
 reservation, therefore, from damage, is an intimation 
 at the outset, that they are not natural locusts 
 which are represented in this vision. 
 
 But 07ily those men lohich have not the seal of 
 
46 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. ix. 1 12. 
 
 God in their foreheads.'] Here, again, is an anomaly 
 in the way of understanding natural locusts as 
 intended ; for it is man's food, the fruit of the 
 earth, which is obnoxious to the incursions of such 
 creatures, not man himself. Moreover, to the 
 effect on the human subject, a further limitation 
 is set. They alone are to be injured who have 
 not the seal of God in their foreheads. This leads 
 us back to the 7th chapter, where the number of 
 the sealed of every tribe is recounted — evidently 
 the same parties who are here exempted from 
 torment. Thus the Lord will put a difference 
 between the faithful and the ungodly. It will be, 
 as when the destroying angel slew the first-born 
 in every house in Egypt, but passed over the 
 dwellings of the Israelites, marked out as they 
 were by the sprinkled blood. Heb.xi.; seeEzek.ix. 
 Ver. 5. And to them it was given, that they 
 shoidd not hill them^ The Divine commission is 
 thus clearly stamped upon the employment of 
 these instruments of Judgment. Malicious, and 
 altogether destructive in intent, as we may con- 
 ceive them to be, — witness the evil spirits that 
 entered into the swine, how they immediately 
 hurried the whole herd headlong into the sea, 
 so that they perished (Luke viii. 33), — yet can 
 they do nothing without the Divine permission ; 
 and in this case, we see a restriction is put upon 
 them, — " they shall not ^^7/." 
 
CH. ix. 1 12.] INTERPRETED. 47 
 
 But that they should he tormented Jive months.] 
 Here is specified, the limit to which the commission 
 of thse fiends extends; namely, inflicting torment; 
 and the length of time, assigned to their operations, 
 is in keeping with the symbol of locusts, by which 
 they are described. For "Jive months^^ is about 
 the period during which these creatures swarm in 
 the East, — viz., from April to September. 
 
 And their torment was as the torment of a 
 scorpion, when he striheth a ma?i.] That is, their 
 victims shall suffer from them as from the sting of 
 a scorpion : — a wingless insect, whose attack is 
 much dreaded, and is sometimes fatal to life. 
 
 An ancient writer thus describes the effect of 
 their wound : " When the scorpion has stung, the 
 place becomes inflamed and hardened ; it reddens 
 by tension, and is painful by intervals, being now 
 chilly, now burning. The pain soon rises high, 
 and rages sometimes more, sometimes less. A 
 sweating succeeds, attended by a shivering and 
 trembling; the extremities become cold; the groin 
 swells; the hair stands on end; the visage becomes 
 pale; and throughout the skin there is the sen- 
 sation of perpetual prickling, as if by needles."* 
 
 Perhaps it is to the plague under this trumpet, 
 of which we may thus conceive, that Moses 
 refers, in his recital to the children of Israel of 
 the consequences of their disobedience : " The 
 
 - Dioscorides, Liber vii., c. 7. 
 
48 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. ix. 1 — 12. 
 
 Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the 
 legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, 
 from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy 
 head.'' Deut. xxviii. 35. 
 
 In the Prophet Jeremiah, also, there seems a 
 similar allusion: — "Behold, I will send serpents, 
 cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, 
 and they shall bite you, saith the Lord." Jer. 
 viii. 17. 
 
 Ver. 6. And in those days shall men seek death, 
 and shall not find it : and shall desire to die, and 
 death shall flee from them^ We read of the 
 anguish of Saul, of old, when he felt that God 
 had forsaken him, and that the Philistines were 
 prevailing against him ; and under the influence 
 of this, he sought death, and ibund it by his own 
 hand. But, here, to whatever of similar remorse 
 there may be in the consciences of the wicked, 
 aggravated by the festering of their tormented 
 bodies, will be added that, unlike him, they will, 
 in vain, " seek death " and " desire to die : " the 
 relief of death shall be denied them, in order, 
 as it seems, to ensure their endurance of the 
 appointed plague. 
 
 To the same effect we read in the prophet 
 Jeremiah, concerning those wicked Jews who shall 
 not have returned to their land, — for upon them, 
 also, it appears, that sore judgments shall come : — 
 " And death shall be chosen rather than life by 
 
CH. ix. 1 12] INTERPRETED. 49 
 
 all the residue of them that remain of this evil 
 family, which remain in all the places whither I 
 have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts." Jer. 
 viii. 3. 
 
 Ver. T. And the shapes of the locusts icere like 
 unto horses prepared unto hattle.'\ So imposing 
 and irresistible will be the aspect of these hosts of 
 darkness. For thus the war horse is described in 
 scripture : — " The glory of his nostrils is terrible. 
 He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his 
 strength : he goeth on to meet the armed men. 
 He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted ; neither 
 turneth he back from the sword. The quiver 
 rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the 
 shield. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness 
 and rage." Job xxxix. 20 — 24. 
 
 A7id on their heads were as it toere croums like 
 gold.] An assailant may be mighty, but yet he 
 may appear mean and ignoble : and thus, his 
 intimidating influence may so far fail in effect. 
 But sLich drawback will not attend the march of 
 these mysterious bands. Their intimidation of 
 the wicked, against whom they are sent will be 
 complete. To the invincible energy of the war 
 horse — addressing itself to the grosser fears of 
 human nature — they will unite the imperious air 
 of kings, exacting submission as they advance. 
 To betoken this, it may be that they are here 
 rejiresented as wearing the emblems of royalty. 
 
 VOL. II. — 3. . D 
 
50 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. ix. 1 — 12. 
 
 And ihei?' faces tvere as the faces of men. 1 This, 
 perhaps, indicates that in their career of mischief 
 and terror, there will be presented the aggravating 
 feature of intelligence — aggravating, as suggesting 
 that all human devices of escape, on the part of 
 their victims, must be at once penetrated and seen 
 through. Manhood can meet manhood's guile. 
 
 Ver. 8. And Iheyluidjiair asthejiair of wome?i.] 
 This may be to combine ignominy with every 
 stroke of torment which they inflict, For, in the 
 first place, to be vanquished by the weaker sex 
 has always been regarded hymen as an intolerable 
 disgrace. Hence, we read in the book of Judges 
 of Atimelech, when wounded by a certain woman 
 of Thebez, who cast a stone upon him, calling to 
 his armour-bearer to draw his sword and slay him, 
 that it might not be said of him, '^ a teaman slew 
 hi?n,'' Judges ix. 54.* Secondly, nothing is more 
 characteristic of women than their long hair ; at 
 least, this is the judgment of scripture, as may be 
 gathered from the language of the Apostle Paul: — 
 " Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a 
 man have long hair, it is a shame unto him ? But 
 if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her : for 
 her hair is given her for a covering." 1 Cor. xi. 
 14, 15. 
 
 And their teeth were as the teeth of lio7is^ Thus 
 will they exhibit the utmost ferocity in their 
 
 * See, also, Judges iv. 9. 
 
CH. ix. 1 12.] INTERPRETED. 51 
 
 appearance ; for, of all beasts of prey, the lion is 
 the strongest and fiercest, and his teeth pro- 
 portionably terrifying to the spectator. See Joel 
 i. 6. 
 
 Ver. 9. And they had hreastplates as it loere 
 breastplates of iron.] This betokens their in- 
 vulnerability ; the " breastplate " being the most 
 imposing piece of defensive armour used in ancient 
 times ; and '^ iron,^^ the hardest of metals. 
 
 And the sound of their wings was as the sound 
 of chariots of many horses running to battle^ As 
 M^arfare was conducted of old, nothing excited 
 more consternation than the rushing of the war 
 chariots which carried the combatants into close 
 fight, and whence were discharged all sorts of 
 darts and missive weapons. Accordingly, we find 
 the frightful noise of such engines referred to by 
 the prophet Nahum, in connexion with the alarm 
 proclaimed against Nineveh : — " The noise of a 
 whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, 
 and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping 
 chariots." Nahum iii. 2. Here, then, this accom- 
 paniment of terror, affecting the ear, will aggravate 
 what flashes upon the eye ; the sound being- 
 produced by the rustling of the wings of this 
 terrible host. And this feature of their description 
 is in consonance with the properties of locusts — 
 after which they are denominated in this vision, — 
 for it is reported of such creatures that the noise 
 d2 
 
52 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. ix. 1 12. 
 
 of their wings is heard at the distance of several 
 miles. 
 
 Ver. 10. And they had fails like u?ito scorpions, 
 and there toere stings in their tails.'] The tail of 
 the scorpion, a genus of wingless insects, as has 
 been observed on ver. 5, is described by zoologists 
 precisely to this effect. They relate that it is long 
 and slender, ending in a pointed weapon, or, sting. 
 
 And their poioer was to hurt me?i,] or, more 
 literally, the men, as in ver. 6, — namely, those 
 " who have not the seal of God in their foreheads." 
 See on ver. 4. And it is a fact that the sting of 
 scorpions, especially the larger sort, which are 
 found in tropical climates, is very venemous — 
 sometimes fatal to life. 
 
 Five moniJis^ See on ver. 5. 
 
 Ver. 11. A7id they had a king over the?n.] It is 
 said, in Scripture, that " the locusts have no king.''' 
 Prov. XXX. 27. Hence, in this clause, we have 
 a further indication that natural locusts are not 
 intended ; though, doubtless, from this name being 
 given them, we should gather, that the locust 
 form is that which predominates in the monstrous 
 aspect assumed by these evil spirits. 
 
 Which is the angel of the hottomless pit.] That 
 is, the pit of the abyss — the receptacle before- 
 named. Ver. 1, 2. The leadership of the fiends, 
 who thence issue forth upon their work of torment, 
 is assumed, it appears, by the same agent that has 
 
CJl. ix. 1 12.] INTERPRETED. 53 
 
 been suffered to let tliem loose — a fallen spirit 
 subordinate to Satan (see on ver. 1) ; or, possibly, 
 he may be one of the liberated fiends themselves, 
 the chief in dignity among them before they 
 sinned; and now the same- precedence is again 
 accorded to him. 
 
 Whose name in the Ilehrew tongue is Abaddon^ 
 This may mean, that, in the Old Testament 
 Scriptures, such party is pointed at, however 
 
 obscurely, wherever the word (p'lQh^)? >t.hu.s pro- 
 nounced Abaddon^ occurs — which is uniformly 
 rendered by our Translators, destruction. See 
 Job xxvi.6, xxviii.22, xxxiv. 12 ; Ps. Ixxxviii. 11 ; 
 Prov. XV. 11; Prov. xxvii. 20. These are all the 
 passages in which the term is found; and, it is 
 observable, that, in most of them, it is emphatically 
 associated with the word " hell," or hades, which — 
 however used in some places, in the Hebrew, to 
 denote simply the grave — yet, more frequently, 
 denotes the region of departed spirits. If then 
 we may suppose that the Arch-Fiend, Satan — who 
 has the power of death, and exults over the 
 dissolution of soul and body — regards this region 
 as part of his domain ; may he not be conceived 
 of, as having assigned it, of old, to the rule of one 
 of his angels ; and thus the place and the dark 
 ^vaMEfi of it, come to be mentioned together. In 
 this way Hell (or Hades) and Destruction, 
 in the Old Testament, would seem to be somewhat 
 
54 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. ix. 1 12. 
 
 akin to the Pit of the Abyss and its Angel, 
 in the New. 
 
 That these receptacles, however diiFering in 
 purport and character, are, in a manner, combined 
 into one sphere of Satanic rule, may be collected 
 from the question of the Apostle : — " Who shall 
 descend into the deep ? " (that is, to bring up 
 Christ again from the dead). Rom. x. 7. For 
 the word here rendered, " the deep," is, literally, 
 the ahijss. And, what this descending into the 
 abyss, had to do with our Lord's resurrection 
 — a question that naturally suggests itself — is 
 thus perhaps satisfactorily resolved. The abyss 
 was the proper seat of the Evil Spirit, who, 
 as it were, brooded over Hades ; and, therefore, 
 deliverance from Hades may be said to have in> 
 volved the discomfiture of this power of darkness. 
 
 But in the Greek tongue hath his name AjJollt/07z.] 
 Perhaps, this signifies that, in the New Testament, 
 wherever we observe the word thus pronounced, 
 which means ]Qestroyer, associated with malicious 
 designs againstlium^ii life, we should identify 
 this Evil One from the pib\as the primary though 
 unseen agent Thus, when\we read of Herod 
 " seeking the young Child to destroy him ;" of 
 the Pharisees "holding a council to d^strvy Jesus ;" 
 of " the chief priests and elders persuading the 
 multitude that they should ask Barabbas and 
 destroij Jesus ;" of the evil spirit's effort " to 
 
CH. ix. 1 12.] INTERPRETED. 55 
 
 destroy^'* the lunatic child, by casting him into 
 the fire and into the water ; of the design of the 
 strange shepherd '' to steal, to kill, and to 
 destroy''^ — in all which passages, the verbal form 
 of the very word Apollyon is that which is used, 
 we should trace the mischief, in question, to this 
 diabolical source. 
 
 Such is the designation of the malignant being, 
 who, under Satan, his great head, has always 
 revelled in the w^ork of mischief, according as he 
 has had opportunity, and who, no doubt, even 
 now, burns for this appointed crisis, when he 
 may lead on his hosts of darkness. 
 
 Ver. 12. One woe is />a5/.] With this solemn 
 utterance, closes the fearful scene just depicted ; 
 and before the next is introduced, a similar note 
 of alarm is sounded, as follows : — 
 
 A7id behold there come two ivoes more hereafter^ 
 This implies that the woe already inflicted has 
 not produced the desired effect; therefore, it is 
 that those further threatened, now succeed. 
 
 But, before we proceed with the subject, one 
 word of reflection for the Christian reader. Here 
 are Satanic legions going forth to torment — 
 if they could, to destroy men's lives ! What a 
 contrast with the design of Him who came to 
 save — who, when on earth, ministered to every 
 human want, and now, in His members, dispenses 
 blessings to a weary world — an earnest of that 
 
56 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. ix. 13 — 21. 
 
 benignant sway which He will yet exercise 
 throughout the bounds of creation ! Truly, the 
 ways of the Son of God are here commended 
 to us in contrast with those of him who was " a 
 murderer from the beginning;" and, no doubt, 
 the mischievous agency of the latter, in this 
 instance as in all others, is intended to exhibit, 
 in strong relief, the beneficence of the Saviour, 
 throwing an emphatic meaning into that word 
 which He uttered in the days of His flesh — 
 " Ye are from beneath ; I am from above." 
 John viii. 2S. 
 
 Moreover, is it the nature of wicked spirits to 
 kill and to destroy ; and are we surrounded by 
 such ? Whence then our protection, but in our 
 Emmanuel, who is a sun and shield, and whose 
 angel '' encampeth round about them that fear 
 Him and delivereth them." Ps. xxxiv. T. 
 
 CHAPTEK IX.' 
 
 SECTION SECOND. 
 Verses 13—21. 
 
 iO And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the 
 four horns of the golden altar which is before God. 
 
 14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the 
 four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 
 
 lo And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an 
 hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part 
 of men. 
 
CH. ix. 13 — 21.] INTERPRETED. oT 
 
 10 Ami the number of tlie avraj' of the horsemen wrre two 
 luindretl thousand thousand : and I heard the number of them. 
 
 J 7 And thus I saw the liorses in the vision, and them that sat 
 on them, having breast-phites of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone : 
 and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions ; and out of 
 their moutlis issued fire and smoke and brimstone. 
 
 18 By these rhree was the tliird part of men killed, by the fire, 
 and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their 
 months. 
 
 19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for 
 their tails irerc like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them 
 they do hurt. 
 
 20 And the I'est of the men which were not killed by these 
 plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they 
 should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, 
 and stone, and of wood : which neither can see, nor hear, nor 
 walk : 
 
 •21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, 
 )ior of their fornication, nor of their tliefts, 
 
 Ver. 13. And the sixth angel sounded, and 
 I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden 
 altar ichich is before God.] As a commission 
 of further judgment against the Jewish people, in 
 their land, is now about to be pronounced by God, 
 attention is here drawn to the quarter whence it 
 issues, even the golden altar of incense — to signify 
 that such judgment is by way of continued answer 
 to the prayers still ascending from the faithful 
 remnant already represented in ch. viii. 3, 4.* 
 
 No doubt, we have, in the Psalms, examples 
 furnished of the prayer which will then prevail. 
 
 * See vol. ii., page 10. 
 - D 3 
 
5S THE APOCALYPSE [CH. ix. 13 21. 
 
 The following may be adduced: — "Oh, let the 
 wickedness . of the wicked come to an end." 
 Ps. vii. 9. " Why standcst thou afar off, O Lord ? 
 Why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble ? The 
 wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor, let them 
 be taken in the devices that they have imagined. 
 Arise, O Lord ; O God, lift up thine hand : forget 
 
 not the humble Break thou the arm of the 
 
 wicked and the evil man." Ps. x. 1,2, 12, 15. 
 " Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an 
 ungodly nation ; O deliver me from the deceitful 
 and unjust man." Ps. xliii. 1. " Awake, why 
 sleepest thou, O Lord ? arise, cast us not off for 
 
 ever Arise for our help, and ledeem us for 
 
 thy mercies' sake." Ps. xliv. 23, 26. " O God, 
 how long shall the adversary reproach ? shall the 
 enemy blaspheme thy name for ever ? Why 
 withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand ? 
 
 pluck it out of thy bosom O let not the 
 
 oppressed return ashamed : let the poor and 
 needy praise thy name. Arise, O God, plead 
 thine own cause : remember how the foolish man 
 reproacheth thee daily. Forget not the voice of 
 thine enemies : the tumult of those that rise up 
 against thee increaseth continually." Ps. Ixxiv. 
 10, 11,21—23. "O my God, make them like 
 a wheel ; as the stubble before the wind As the 
 fire burneth a w^ood, and as the flame setteth the 
 mountains on fire, so persecute them with thy 
 
(j:i. is.. 13 — '^^L] interpreted. 5i) 
 
 tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. 
 Fill their faces with shame ; that they may seek 
 thy name, O Lord. Let them be confounded and 
 troubled for ever ; yea, let them be put to shame, 
 and perish ; that men may know that thou, whose 
 name alone is Jehovah, art the Most High over 
 all the earth." Ps. Ixxxiii. 13—18. " O Lord God, 
 to whom vengeance belongeth ; O God, to whom 
 vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. Lift up 
 thyself, thou judge of the earth ; render a rcAvard 
 to the proud. Lord, how long shall the wicked, 
 how long shall the wicked triumph ? How long 
 shall they utter and speak hard things? and all 
 the workers of iniquity boast themselves ? They 
 break in pieces thy people, O Lord, and afflict 
 thine heritage. They slay the widow and the 
 stranger, and murder the fatherless. Yet they 
 say, 'J'he Lord shall not see, neither shall the 
 God of Jacob regard it." Ps. xciv. 1 — T. 
 
 By such cryings as these, from the faithful rem- 
 nant, in the land, amidst their apostate nation, we 
 may well conceive, according to the vision before 
 us, that the Lord is moved ; and that He at length 
 answers them in righteousness, by the " terrible 
 things" here rehearsed. Hence, then, the signal 
 for renewed judgment comes as a voice from 
 the golden altar, the place of prevailing inter- 
 cession ; and in the original, it is remarkable, the 
 word is " 07ie voice," as though the united result 
 
60 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. ix. 13—21. 
 
 of the many prayers that are offered hi this 
 behalf. See also Rom. xi. 2, 3, and James v. IT. 
 
 But, as " the four horns " of this altar are par- 
 ticularly specified, perhaps we should look for some 
 further import to be thus conveyed to us. And, 
 here it is worthy of remark, that, on the day of 
 atonement, when Israel, as a nation, renewed their 
 reconciliation with God, and also on the occasion 
 of any sin through ignorance, involving the High 
 Priest, or the whole congregation; it was ordained 
 of God, as part of the ritual to be observed for His 
 propitiation, that, of the sacrifice offered, some of 
 the blood should be put upon this very appurtenance 
 \ of the Tabernacle : — '^ The priest shall put some 
 of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet 
 incense." Lev. iv. 7,18. See also ch. xvi. 18. And 
 that this ordinance had a special asj^ect towards 
 sin, as committed by the congregation collectively, 
 or its great representative Functionary, appears 
 from this,— ^thitt.^n other cases for which the 
 Divine mercy was provided, whether the sin of an 
 ordinary ruler, or any of the common people, the 
 blood of atonement was put, not upon the horns of 
 the golden altar, but upon those of " the altar of 
 burnt ojf'ermg.''^ See Lev. iv. 25, 34. When, there- 
 fore, the prelude to an infliction of wrath upon 
 this same people is found — as in the vision before 
 us — to consist of a voice " from the four horns of 
 the sfolden altar," mav it not be to indicate that 
 
CH. ix. 13 — 21.] INTERPRETED. 61 
 
 the great national sin of Israel — however committed 
 in ignorance — the rejection of their Messiah, is 
 still uncancelled, and that therefore " the anger 
 of God is not turned away, but his hand is 
 stretched out still." Isaiah x. 4. 
 
 Thus introduced, may not the severe plagues 
 which follow, be associated by the sufferers, with 
 humbling recollections of their forefathers' aw^ful 
 cry, " His blood be on us and on our children." 
 Mat. xxvii. 25. In fact, combining this recognition 
 of the bloodguiltiness of Israel, with the jjrayers 
 for judgment, of the faithful and oppressed remnant 
 already noticed, we seem to have, as the full 
 burden of this vision, the blood of Messiah crying 
 against the apostate nation, like that of Abel 
 ao'ainst his murderer Cain. 
 
 o 
 
 Ver. 14. Saying to tlie sixth angel icliicli had the 
 trumpet, Loose the four angels which are hound in 
 the great river Eujyhrates^ This is preparatory to 
 another incursion of evil spirits, which is presently 
 described. We had ^' four angels " shown to us, in 
 the seventh chapter, as having to do with the four 
 wmds of the earth ; but they are not represented as 
 under restraint like the angels here, but awaiting 
 God's signal to execute His will. IMoreover, 
 their agency is to delay disaster till God's chosen 
 ones are sealed ; whereas, the agency of these is 
 immediately attended with disaster, as its sure 
 concojnitant ; and they are only withheld from 
 
62 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. ix. lo 21. 
 
 inflicting it by a superior power — a fit characteristic, 
 this, of the fellow-workers of him whom we have 
 seen called " Abaddon, the Destroyer." Their 
 very liberty is fatal to life ; and so impatient are 
 they to wreak their fury on their victims, that they 
 must be bounds in order to suspend the stroke till 
 the appointed season. Hence, there can be no doubt 
 of these being evil angels ; and God knows how 
 to employ such to subserve His righteous anger.* 
 They are '' hound in," or, rather, ^' at the 
 great river Euphrates." This signifies, that from 
 that region, the destructive enemies of Israel — 
 presently enumerated — march against Jerusalem. 
 And in this association, the Euphrates is spoken of 
 in Old Testament prophecy. For example, where 
 the prophet Isaiah proclaims the retribution which 
 the rejection of the government of the true line of 
 David (and the person of Messiah is ultimately 
 pointed at) would surely bring upon the guilty 
 nation, he uses these remarkable words : " Behold 
 the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the 
 river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, 
 and all his glory : and ho shall come up over all 
 his channels, and go over all his banks : And he 
 shall pass through Judah ; he shall overflow and 
 go over, he shall reach even to the neck ; and the 
 stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of 
 thy land, Immanuel." Isa. viii. 7, 8. Here the 
 
 * See Psalm Ixxviii. 40. 
 
en. ix. 13 21.] INTERPliETED. 63 
 
 Assyrian forces — and led on by a greater than 
 Sennacherib, even his antitype, the Antichrist of 
 the last days — are evidently intended by the waters 
 of the river, i. e. the Euphrates, often called, by 
 reason of its magnitude, the river. And that, from 
 this quarter, there will arise a combination of fierce 
 invaders of Jerusalem, in the latter day, is plain 
 from other prophecies which make Babylon, seated 
 as it is upon the Euphrates, the centre of mischief 
 to the Jewish people. Thus, Hab. i. 6 — 11, which 
 has been already referred to.* And in Jeremiah 
 we read : " Out of the north " (and be it observed, 
 Babylon lay north of Jerusalem) '' an evil shall 
 break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. 
 For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms 
 of the north, saith the Lord ; and they shall come, 
 and they shall set every one his throne at the 
 entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all 
 the walls thereof round about, and against all the 
 cities of Judah. And I will utter my judgments 
 against them touching all their wickedness, who 
 have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto 
 other gods, and worshipped the works of their own 
 hands." Jer. i. 14 — 16. Again, " evil appeareth 
 out of the north, and great destruction." Jer. vi. L 
 See also Jer. xxv. '26, Isa. xiv. 31, Joel ii. '30. 
 
 Ver. 15. Aiicl the four angch 'were loosed, tohlcli 
 iDcre 2^Tepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, 
 * Vol. i. 1). ;5-^l. 
 
64 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. ix. 13 21. 
 
 and a year ^ for to slay the third part of men^ The 
 trumpet angel having executed the commission 
 assigned to him, the four evil angels are left free 
 to act. And now we are informed that they (in- 
 cluding, we may presume, the hosts into which 
 they merge as the vision jii'oceeds) had been 
 reserved in readiness (of course, by God) for a 
 work of slaughter amongst his enemies, even " the 
 men " before alluded to, as not having the seal of 
 God in their foreheads. A third part of these are 
 now to be slain. All of them had been tormented 
 under the former judgment: now,\kv\^ proportion of 
 them shall suffer death in its most terrifying form, 
 '.lire period, also, as well as the purpose for 
 which this fatal agency was prepared, is defined, 
 and with minute detail, as though even a repetition 
 of a duration appointed or spoken of before, — "for 
 tlie hour, and day, and month, and year." Such 
 is the strict rendering of the original. These terms 
 are not to be taken as expressive of^ concentric 
 periods of time, but continuously ; just as m the 
 famous — chronological prophecy of Daniel, the 
 " seven weeks," and "three score and two weeks," 
 and "one week," combine to make up the seventy 
 weeks first spoken of. Thus, the aggregate of the 
 ]3eriods here named is three hundred and ninety 
 jjays,* a day, and an hour ; 'within which time, 
 
 * In tliis reduction of the year and moiitli into days, the lunar 
 year, that is, twelve times thirty days, and thirty days for the odd 
 
CH. viii. 13 — 21.] INTERPRETED. 65 
 
 it appears, the work of slaughter will go on in Jeru- 
 salem. No doubt there is a reason for the duration 
 being given here in such distinct portions, even to 
 intimate that to each will be allotted its respective 
 event in that terrific crisis. But where, it may be 
 asked, had such a duration been appointed, or 
 spoken of before, as implied in the foregoing use of 
 the article, '' the hour/' &c. ? For an answer to this, 
 let us turn toEzekiel. The prophet is commanded 
 to go through a symbolical rehearsal of a siege of 
 Jerusalem ; and amongst other observances pre- 
 scribed, is his lying upon his side for 'Hhree hundred 
 and ninety daxjs ^'' the significancyofwhichis clearly 
 conveyed to us in these words : — " Behold, I will lay 
 bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from 
 one side to another till thou hast ended the days of 
 thy siege." £zek. iv. 8. For so many years, it seems, 
 is the house of Israel regarded by God as having 
 provoked Him by their iniquity ; and, answering 
 thereto, it is here prophesied, that the nation in 
 Jerusalem shall undergo the anguish and extremity 
 of a siege, in which the most revolting means 
 will have to be resorted to for the preservation 
 of life. Nov/, the only siege of which it is 
 
 moutli, has been taken as that intended. Nor can there be any 
 doubt of the correctness of this estimate, when we see, in the 
 course of this book, that tliree years and a half resolve themselves 
 into forty and two months, and twelve hundred and sixty days. 
 This allows just three hundred and sixty days for a year, and thirty 
 days for a month. See Rev. xi. 2, :3. 
 
66 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. IX. 13 — 21. 
 
 attempted by Commentators to interpret this 
 memorable prophecy, is the siege of Jerusalem by 
 Nebuchadnezzar, in the reign of Zedekiah. But 
 it happens most remarkably, as though to provide 
 against such attempts, that we have three several 
 accounts in scripture of that siege, as to when it 
 began and ended, and they all correspond in 
 making the duration of it to be not three hundred 
 and ninety days, but jive hundred and forty days, 
 or a year and a half! For example, it is thus 
 recorded in the prophet Jeremiah : — " In the ninth 
 year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, 
 came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his 
 army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it. And 
 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, 
 the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up."" 
 Jer. xxxix. 1, 2. See also 2 Kings xxv. 1, and 
 Jer. lii. 4. 
 
 To harmonize these dates with the prophecy in 
 Ezekiel, it is alleged, indeed, that there was an 
 interval during which the Chaldeans raised the 
 siege of Jerusalem, to repulse the diversion made 
 in its favour by the king of Egypt; (see Jer. 
 xxxvii. 11) and that this should be deducted 
 from the computation in Jeremiah. But, besides 
 that the latter presents no indication that such 
 interval was designed to be deducted, how can 
 this interval be determined to amount to ]\x^t five 
 months, the complement in q^uestion ? It cannot 
 
OH.ix. 13 .^1.] INTERPRETED. 67 
 
 be clone. The only expedient, therefore, of 
 Commentators, is to suppose what is convenient 
 to their notion, and then affirm it to their readers 
 as fact. This is the course pursued by the most 
 respectable of them, adding, in some cases, a 
 scripture reference, which the reader naturally 
 expects to be satisfactory, but when he turns to it, 
 he is surjDrised, as -syell he may be, to find the 
 assertion quite unsustained.* 
 
 This alleged fulfilment of Ezekiel's three 
 hundred and ninety days siege of Jerusalem, 
 being thus disposed of, it only remains to suggest 
 to the reader, that this, like many other fore- 
 stalled interpretations of prophecy, relates to 
 the future, when the Jews having returned to 
 their land, and filling up the measure of theiv 
 iniquity, by aggravated apostacy from God, He 
 svill consummate his indignation against them, by 
 letting loose upon them a mixed confederacy of 
 men and demons. This trumj)et vision describes 
 the latter, who will besiege Jerusalem, for the 
 very period specified, three hundred and ninety 
 days, or a month and a year, the event being fatal 
 to a considerable number of the guilty — even a 
 third part. 
 
 It is admitted, that, in this interpretation, no 
 
 * " The siege of Jerusalem is computed to last eighteen montlis, 
 (Jer. lii. 4 — 0) but if we deduct from that five months interval, 
 when the besiegers withdrew upon the approach of Pharaoh's army, 
 (Jer. xxxvii. 5 — K) the number of the days of the close siege will be 
 three hundred and ninety." — IMatthew Henry on Ezek. iv. 1 — 8, 
 
 \ / 
 
68 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. ix. 13 — 21. 
 
 significancy has been assigned to the supplement 
 of " the hour and day,^^ which belongs to the main 
 period, three hundred and ninety days. But, let 
 it be observed that the duration defined in Ezekiel, 
 belongs only to the process of the siege ; whereas, 
 supposing such siege to be contemplated under 
 this trumpet vision, it is manifest, that it is followed 
 out to its consequences, in the carnage of " the 
 third part of the men " May not the extension 
 of the time, then, in this latter case, be framed 
 accordingly, so as to include this dire sequel ? 
 For the ravages of a victorious army for one day 
 would yield the proportion of slain here mentioned; 
 whilst the occupation of an additional solitary 
 hour in the same way, and then the termination of 
 this bloody work, would just indicate what it may 
 be God's purpose should be recognized — that as 
 the judgment, so its sudden cessation has come 
 from Him. 
 
 Having thus synchronized this vision, with the 
 gathering together of numerous armies to besiege 
 Jerusalem in the latter day, it may be well that 
 I should here bring before the reader, the very 
 similar allusions to such event from Old Testament 
 prophecy. 
 
 And, first, let us consult the Prophet Ezekiel. 
 After naming numerous Gentile powers ; and 
 some of them, emphatically, from the regions of 
 the north, " with horses and horsemen, all of them 
 clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great 
 
CIl. !X. 13 21.] INTERPRETED. 69 
 
 company with bucklers, and shields, all of them 
 handling swords," God thus addresses them, by 
 his inspired servant : — " ]5e thou prepared, and 
 prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company 
 that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard 
 unto them. After many days thou shalt be 
 visited." Now, if we conceive of these armies 
 of nations, as in some way represented by the 
 quaternion of angels who have their place by the 
 Euphrates, (Satan's princes, as it were, presiding 
 over these regions,) the restraint of the latter, 
 whilst yet prej^ared for the career of judgment 
 before them, seems not a little to coriespond with 
 the purport of this Divine charge. The Prophet 
 proceeds : — " In the latter years thou shalt come 
 into the land, that is brought back from the 
 sword, and is gathered out of many people,* 
 against the mountains of Israel, which have been 
 always waste ; but it is brought forth out of the 
 nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. 
 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm; thou 
 shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou and 
 all thy bands, and many people with thee. Thus 
 saith the Lord God : It shall also come to pass, 
 that at the same time shall things come into thy 
 mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought : And 
 
 * The above seems no obscure intimation that the possession 
 of Palestine becoming first a source of strife amoug tbe dynasties 
 of Europe, will, afterwards, as an adjustment of tlieir difficulties, 
 be ceded to her own children. 
 
TO THE APOCALYPSE [CH. ix. 13 21. 
 
 tliou shalt say, I will go up to the land of un- 
 wallecl villages ; I will go to them that are at 
 rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling with- 
 out walls, and having neither bars nor gates, 
 to take a spoil, and to take a prey ; to turn 
 thine hand upon the desolate places that are now 
 inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered 
 out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and 
 
 goods, that dwell in the midst of the land 
 
 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the 
 north parts, thou, and many j)eople with thee, 
 all of them riding upon horses, a great company, 
 and a mighty army : and thou shalt come up 
 against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover 
 the land ; it shall be in the latter days, and I will 
 bring thee against my land, that the heathen may 
 know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, 
 
 Gog, before their eyes." Ezek. xxxviii. 4, 7 — 16. 
 Of the foregoing sentences, those put in italics 
 
 will be seen by the reader to supply points of 
 coincidence with " the army of horsemen'''' in the 
 Revelation. But the following verse appears still 
 more significant as intimating, that, like these 
 latter forces, the Prophet's mighty army has 
 been in the Divine view, from of old, for the 
 chastisement of rebellious Israel : — " Thus saith the 
 Lord God, Art thou he of whom I have spoken 
 in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, 
 which prophesied in those days many years that 
 
 1 Avould bring thee against them ?" Ver. 17. 
 
CH. ix. 13 — 21.J INTERPRETED, 71 
 
 Again, we read in the Prophet Isaiah : — " He 
 will lift up an ensign from afar, and will hiss unto 
 them from the end of the earth : and, behold, they 
 shall eome with speed swiftly : none shall be weary 
 nor stumble among them ; none shall slumber nor 
 sleep ; neither shall the girdle of their loins be 
 loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken : 
 whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, 
 their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and 
 their wheels like a whirlwind : their roarinor shall 
 be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions : 
 yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and 
 shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it." 
 Isaiah v. 26—29. 
 
 Here, in like manner, is rehearsed the assem- 
 bling, at the Divine summons, of an invincible and 
 terrifying army — possessed of manifestly super- 
 natural energy and resources — against Israel's 
 land ; of which land also, it is added, corres- 
 ponding as we have seen to the history of the 
 trumpet visitations upon that people : " And if 
 one look unto it, behold darkness and sorrow, and 
 the light is darkened in the heavens thereof." 
 Ver. 30. 
 
 The eventful siege of Jerusalem by all nations 
 predicted in the Prophet Zechariah, will also 
 occur to the reader, as harmonizing with the 
 preceding descriptions (see Zech. xii. and xiv.) ; 
 whilst with all these, and especially the visions in 
 
12 
 
 THE APOCALYPSE [CH, ix. 13—21. 
 
 the chapter before us, that of the locusts, and the 
 Euphratean horsemen, the details of the Prophet 
 Joel are in striking unison. For, here we have 
 the Jews in their own land, and their inva-jion by 
 all nations, especially by those mysterious agents 
 (from the north also) of whom it is said, " There 
 hath not been ever the like, neither shall he any 
 more after it y" — by these Jerusalem is captured, 
 and the solemn call to repentance urged upon 
 her guilty inhabitants. Confining the further 
 comparison, however, to the description of Joel 
 and the Apocalypse, the following parallelism 
 between these two may be left to close the subject, 
 at least under its present head. 
 
 Eevelatiou ix. 
 
 '• The sun and the air were 
 darkened by reason of the smoke 
 oj the pit" ver. 2. 
 
 "And he opened the bottom- 
 less pit ;. . .and there came out 
 . • locusts upon the earth" ver. 3. 
 
 " The four angels ivhich 
 are hound at the great river 
 Eu2Jhrates." ver. 14, 
 
 *' The shapes of tlie locusts 
 were like unto horses prepared 
 unto battle." ver. 7. 
 
 " And the number of the army 
 of the horsemen," £c. ver. 16. 
 
 " The sound of their wings 
 was as the sound of chariots of 
 many horses running to battle." 
 ver. 9. 
 
 Joel ii. 
 
 " A day of darkness and of 
 gloominess, a day of clouds and 
 of thick darkness " ver. 2. 
 
 " A great people and a 
 strong : there hath not been 
 ever the like." ver. 2. 
 
 The northern army. 
 
 " The appearance of them 
 was the appearance of horses." 
 ver. 4. 
 
 " Like the noife of chariots 
 on the tops of moantains shall 
 they leap." ver, 5. 
 
CH. ix. 13 — 21.] INTERPRETED. 73 
 
 In the above comparison with the Prophet Joel, 
 both the visions in this 9th chapter, — that of the 
 " locusts," and of the Euphratean horsemen, — 
 have been continued together in one view; and. 
 this seems absolutely necessary to the adjustment 
 of the general harmony, which, at once, commends 
 itself to our notice, so far as the locust vision 
 only is concerned. For, one prominent feature 
 of Joel's " army " is their devastating progress, 
 laying waste the fruits of the earth. " The land," 
 says the Prophet, " is as the garden of Eden 
 before them, and behind them a desolate wilder- 
 ness." Joel ii. 3. Whereas, in John's vision 
 of the " locusts," we have seen that it was com- 
 manded them — " that they should not hurt the 
 grass of the earth, neither any green thing, nor 
 any tree, but only those men which have not the 
 seal of God in their foreheads." ver. 4. This 
 discrepancy, it is obvious, can only be reconciled 
 by the supposition adopted, that the Spirit, in 
 Joel, contemplates the incursions of the tvliole 
 fiendish host in this chapter ; and that what is 
 not true of the locust band will be verified in that 
 of the Euphratean horsemen. And, with this 
 supposition, the general aspect of Joel's prophecy 
 coincides ; for, like Zechariah,* it appears as if 
 his object was, not to be minute in his description 
 of the future, but comprehensive, giving a summary 
 
 * Zecli. xiv. 
 VOL. II, — 4 . E 
 
74 THE APOCALTPSE [CH. ix. lo 21. 
 
 view of all the enemies, natural and supernatural, 
 that will be let loose against Jerusalem in the 
 latter day. 
 
 Such, I submit, is the 'harmonizing conclusion 
 which we should adopt in comparing the visions 
 in question. Certainly super-natural assailants 
 seem referred to in the following description of 
 Joel: — " When they fall upoti the sword, they 
 
 shall not he toounded the earth shall quake 
 
 before them, the heavens shall tremhle.''^ Joel ii. 
 8, 10. 
 
 Ver. 16. And the number of the army of the 
 horsemen ivere two hundred thousand thousand ; 
 and I heard the number of them,] The transition 
 from the mention of the four angels to that of this 
 great army, suggests, as has been already observed, 
 a sort of identification between the two ; even that 
 the latter are headed up in the former, as the 
 instigators and leacTefs'of the expedition. Thus, 
 in the history of Job, we find, that when Satan 
 was so far freed from restraint against God's 
 servant, the immediate consequence was an inroad 
 of the Sabeans and Chaldeans, as though Satan's 
 mischievous agents held in leash for the purpose. 
 Job i. 15 — 17. 
 
 The number of this cavalry host is immense 
 beyond all ]3recedent; and, in relation to the 
 population of the whole earth, may appear in- 
 credible. But, with the precision of the enumeration 
 
CH. ix. 13 21. \ INTERPRETED. 75 
 
 employed, and tlie Apostle's emphatic addition — 
 ^' I heard the number of them" — we cannot suppose 
 that any hyperbole of speech is intended. It 
 is to be remembered, also, that these myriads, 
 however mingled with ordinary assailants of earth, 
 belong not themselves to such category ; and we 
 know not, therefore, how to compute either the 
 consistency of their numbers relatively, or the 
 space they may occupy. The simple course for 
 the child of God is to believe, implicitly, what 
 the Word of God declares. 
 
 Ver. 17. A?id thus I saw the horses in the 
 tisio^i, and them that sat on them., having breast- 
 jilates of fre, a7id of jacinth, and brimstone.] 
 Having recited their number, the Apostle now 
 proceeds to describe the terrifying aspect of both 
 horses and riders. The latter have breastplates 
 of fire — that is, perhaj)s, of a glowing red colour ; 
 but, they partake also of the combined hue of 
 the jacinth (or hyacinth, a blue transparent 
 mineral) and brimstone, which is yellow. 
 
 A?id the heads of the horses were as the heads 
 of lions.] This and the other features of the 
 Apostle's description, shew that these horses are, 
 in their composition, monsters ; the shajje of the 
 horse, however, predominating here, as that of 
 the locusts in the former vision. Their heads, 
 being as the heads of lions, indicate, we may 
 conclude, fierceness of aspect. 
 e2 
 
76 THE APOCALYPSE [cil. ix. 13 — 21. 
 
 And out of their mouths issued fire, and smohe, 
 and brimsto?ie.] This tlireefold exhalation is in 
 keeping with the prominent appearance of the 
 riders, as we have seen in the account of their 
 breastplates. And both — harmonizing Avith the 
 eruption from the abyss, accompanying the issue 
 of the locusts (evil sjm^its) — argue that with such, 
 these terrible agencies have a kindred ajfiniiy. 
 
 Ver. 18. By these three {plagues) loas the third 
 part of (the) men hilled, hy the fire, and hy the 
 smoke, and hy the brimstone, which issued out of 
 their mouths^ Such will be the proportion of the 
 wicked inhabitants of Jerusalem, '* tlie men'' 
 without God's mark, who will perish under this 
 judgment. And it appears that what will prove 
 fatal to them will be the volcanic breath, as it 
 were, of these monstrous horses, consuming them 
 with fire. 
 
 May not this very agency be contemplated in 
 many of the Old Testament prophecies, and the 
 parables of the New, which specify burning as 
 amongst the modes of retribution, wherewith 
 God will avenge himself on his enemies in the 
 latter day ? (Isaiah iii. 24 ; iv. 4.) One passage, 
 especially, may be referred to, where it is said : — 
 (and in a context which expressly names " sinners 
 in Zion''^ as undergoing a visitation of judgment) 
 " Ye shall conceive chaff; ye shall bring forth 
 stubble : your breath, as fire, shall devour you. 
 
CH.ix. 13 21.] INTERPRETED. 77 
 
 A?icl the people shall be as the hurtimgs of limey 
 Isaiah xxxiii. 11, 12. Surely, this threatening 
 remarkably corresponds with the scene before us. 
 Again : whereas we have here a third part 
 devoured by this plague of fire ; on looking to 
 the prophet Ezekiel's account, relative, as has 
 been submitted,* to the same time, we find the 
 following symbolical procedure, significant of the 
 future, imposed upon the Prophet : — " And thou, 
 son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a 
 barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thine 
 head, and upon thy beard; then take thee balances 
 to weigh, and divide the hair. Thou shalt hum 
 with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when 
 the days of tJte siege are fulfilled, ^^ Ezekielv. 1.2. 
 This action, indicating, as it were, the dissolution 
 of the Jewish people's Nazarite relationship to 
 God, was obviously intended to portray one sad 
 issue of the threatened siege of Jerusalem, even 
 as the Prophet's recumbency on his side, pointed 
 to the siege's duration. And, while this clause 
 of Ezekiel's prophecy applies to the illustration of 
 the Apocalypse, doubtless, with that immediately 
 following, it supplies the mode by which, according 
 to Zechariah's prophecy, '^ ttoo parts of the land 
 shall be cut ofif and die." Zech. xiii. 8. For, 
 that clause enjoins apon Ezekiel the ^smiting about 
 loith a knife of another third part of the symbolic 
 * See page 05. 
 
78 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. ix. lo 21. 
 
 hair, which as clearly implies destruction by 
 the sword. 
 
 Thus, by fire and sword will the Lord plead 
 with the wicked Jews at the awful period before 
 us ; but, in the vision of the Apocalypse under 
 consideration, the former agency is that alone 
 specified, because it may be, of its extraordinary 
 nature, and engrossing aspect of terror towards 
 its devoted subjects. 
 
 Ver. 19, For their power {literally, the power 
 of the horses) is in their mouth, and in their tails : 
 for their tails were like unto serpents, and had 
 heads, and with them they do hurt.'] This is 
 another feature of the monstrous character of this 
 host. Unlike natural horses, their power is not 
 in their hoof, but in their mouth and tails. The 
 consuming breath of the former having been just 
 mentioned, now it is added that they also inflict 
 mischief with the latter, which are like serpents 
 having heads. The word which is rendered 
 " injure^^ is that which occurs in connexion with 
 the torment of the locusts in the previous vision.* 
 And we can imagine how the lashing abont with 
 head and tail bf such ferocious hosts, would 
 produce the effect here related. 
 
 Ver. 20. And the rest of the men tohich were 
 not killed hy these plagues, yet repented not of the 
 works of their hands, that they should not worship 
 
 * Compare Chapter ix. o., with verse IQ. 
 
CH. ix. 13 — 21.] INTERPRETED. 79 
 
 devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and 
 stone, and of wood: lohich neither can see, nor 
 hear, nor walk.'] This is a sad recital of the 
 hardness of heart which will characterize the 
 wicked survivors amongst the Jewish people, 
 notwithstanding the fierce anger of the Lord 
 which will have fallen upon their associates. 
 Like the Egyptians of old, under the plagues 
 inflicted by Moses, they will yet persist in their 
 mad rebellion against God. And this very obsti- 
 nacy of spirit is perhaps hinted at in the book of 
 Le^dticus, where the case being put of Israel 
 walking contrary unto God, and refusing to be 
 reformed by Him, He threatens to " walk contrary 
 unto them also in fury" and " to chastise them 
 seven times for their sins." Lev. xxvi. 28. This 
 so fir accords with the present scene in the 
 Apocalypse, in that here we have the guilty Jews 
 still impenitent, after their endurance of the six 
 trumpet plagues which have now run their course ; 
 and, thus, the seventh, the consummating stroke 
 of judgment, has to descend. The Prophet 
 Jeremiah, also, (and pointing, it is submitted, to 
 the same crisis) thus depicts their contumacy: — 
 " No man repented him of his wickedness, saying, 
 What have I done ? every one turned to his 
 course, as the horse rusheth into the battle."* 
 The context of this prophecy specifies, amongst 
 
 * Jer, viii. (j. 
 
80 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. ix. 15 21. 
 
 other features of the wickedness denounced, their 
 idolatrous worship — thus further harmonizing, 
 with the period now under consideration. 
 
 ^Qmt-4idAtry, and in its rankest form, will be 
 one of me prevailing sins, which will attach to 
 the Jews when they next return to their land, has 
 been already remarked.* It may not be out of 
 place here to observe, further, that of this, our 
 Lord gave intimation, in the days of his flesh; 
 when, on the occasion of the Jews referring one 
 of his indubitable acts of exorcism to collusion 
 with Satan, he spoke the parable of the unclean 
 spirit leaving his house, for a season, and then 
 returning and taking possession of it, with seven 
 other spirits more wicked than himself, adding 
 with weighty imj)ort — '' even so shall it he also unto 
 this wicked generation.^^ f As though he had said 
 to them, * you have alleged that my expulsion of 
 'the evil spirit, just effected, is not a real one; 
 'but that, by concert with me, he has voluntarily 
 'retired from his victim, presently to repossess 
 'him. Now this is not the case ;' (and our Lord 
 had abundantly refuted the calumny) ' but I will 
 'shew an instance of this very thing, to be yet 
 ' clearly manifested in yourselves, as a nation. The 
 ' unclean spirit of idolatry which formerly possessed 
 'you, prior to your captivity in Babylon, does not 
 ' seem now to dwell among you ; and you pride 
 * Vol. 1. page 37-2. + Matt. xii. 2-2— io 
 
CH.ix. 13 — 21.] INTERPRETED. 81 
 
 * yourselves upon tliis, and upon the comparative 
 'sweeping and garnishing as it were, that your 
 'national habits have assumed. Bat I announce 
 'to you, that your deliverance from the evil one 
 'shall be proved to have been only apparent, by 
 
 * the event yet to succeed, — your becoming more 
 'abandoned than ever in your former idolatry.' 
 Our Lord does not, indeed, thus name idolatry 
 as the uncleanncss he had in view ; but there can 
 be no doubt, as this was what the nation rioted 
 in of old, that he specially points to it in the 
 general description He employs. Moreover, the 
 old Testament abounds in allusions to the same 
 deplorable issue, " Their land also is full of 
 idols : they worship the work of their own 
 hands, that which their own fingers have made." 
 Isaiah ii. 8. And, that this relates to the future 
 is evident from a subsequent verse ; where, in 
 connection vv-ith the Lord's arising " to shalce 
 terrihly the earth, ^^ fjust the language which is 
 expressive of the judgments of the Apocalypse) it 
 is said : "In that day a man shall cast his idols 
 of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made 
 each one for himself to worship, to the moles and 
 to the bats." v. 20. See also, Isaiah xliv. 15 — 20. 
 Ivii. 5. 
 
 Before passing from this verse, it may be well 
 to call the reader's attention to the fact, that in 
 the text before us the worship of the various idols 
 
8^ THE APOCALYPSE [CH. ix. 1-3 21. 
 
 of gold and silver, &c., is associated with the 
 worship of Devils, or Demons. Indeed the latter 
 is prefixed to the enumeration, as though its 
 proper head, to which all that follows is reducible. 
 And, this is in perfect correspondence with what 
 we observe in the language of the Spirit elsewhere. 
 Thus Paul, addressing the Athenians, denomi- 
 nates their idolatry as a luorshipping of Demons. 
 (See Acts xvii. 22. Grk.) And, writing to the 
 Corinthians on the subject of the idolatrous worship 
 going on around them, he speaks to the same 
 effect : — " The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, 
 they sacrifice to Devils {Demons) and not to 
 God." 1 Cor. X. 20. 
 
 There is no authority whatever for interpreting 
 Demons to mean the spirits of departed men, 
 although this is so commonly done by Com- 
 mentators, in order to accommodate what is 
 branded as Demon worshijD in the Scriptures, 
 to the invocation of saints in the Church of 
 Rome. The term Demon frequently occurs in 
 the gospels, and is used interchangeably with the 
 expression ivicked or unclean spirit, but never 
 denotes human beings, either in the body or out 
 of it. Com^iare Mat. x. 1, and Mark vi. 7, with 
 Luke X. IT, 
 
 Ver. 21. Neither rep)ented they of their murders^ 
 Under the second seal, we saw it announced, 
 amongst the circumstances of the day of the Lord, 
 
DH. ix. 13 21.] IXTERPRETED. 83 
 
 when peace shall be taken from the earth (land), 
 " that they should hill one another^ (Ch. vi. 4.) 
 And the unnatural details of this period, we 
 considered as referred to by our Lord, in the 24th 
 of Matthew, in which he speaks of treachery and 
 betrayal by relations and friends, in language 
 obviously derived from the Prophet Micah * And, 
 now, turning to this prophet again, we find him 
 beginning the very strain of utterance which our 
 Lord quotes, with this emphatic note: — "The 
 good man is perished out of the earth (land) and 
 there is none upright among men : they all lie in 
 wait for blood.''^ Micah vii. 2. Isaiah, also, in 
 his first chapter, the comparison of which with 
 Revelation xi., suggests that it relates, at least 
 principally, to Jerusalem as it will be, when next 
 occupied by the apostate nation, thus speaks: — 
 " How is the faithful city become an harlot ! it 
 was full of judgment ; righteousness lodged in 
 it; but now murderers^ Isaiah i. 21. Again, 
 ^^your hands are full of blood.'''' Ver. 15. (See 
 also Isaiah xxvi. 21 ; xxxiii. 15 ; lix. 7.) 
 
 By the spirit of judgment and the spirit of 
 burning, then, as rehearsed under this vision in 
 the Apocalypse, will the Lord make inquisition for, 
 and purge the blood of Jerusalem, from the midst 
 thereof. But the wicked survivors, as they shall 
 not have repented of their idolatry, so neither 
 
 * Vol. I., p. 327, 328. 
 
84 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. ix. 13 — 21. 
 
 shall they of their murders. Wrath, accordingly, 
 will continue to be poured Out upon them. 
 
 Nor of their sorceries?\ Sorcery means divination 
 by the agency of evil spirits. Such will be another 
 characteristic of the future. By her sorceries, 
 amongst other things, will the revived Babylon 
 cieceke all nations. (Rev.xviii.23.) And, doubtless, 
 it is in allusion to this that Paul speaks, in his 
 Second Epistle to Timpthy, touching the last 
 times : — " But evil men and seducers shall wax 
 w^orse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." 
 2 Tim. iii. 13. In this passage, the word rendered 
 " seducers " properly means sorcerers. To test 
 this assertion, by the Spirit's use of the term 
 elsewhere, we are unable, as it occurs no where 
 else in the New Testament ; but it is supported 
 by the usage of all classical v/riters, in conformity 
 with the etymology of the word, which refers to 
 the low moaning sounds like those of an ox, 
 which were wont to be used in incantation scenes. 
 Thus explained, the text in question at once leads 
 the mind to the remonstrance addressed to the 
 Jews by the Prophet Isaiah, (also referring, I 
 submit, to the last days) : — " And when they shall 
 say unto you, seek unto them that have familiar 
 spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that 
 mutter : should not a people seek unto their 
 God?" Isaiah viii. 19. See also Isaiah Ivii. 3; 
 xlvii. 9—12. 
 
CH. ix. 13 — 21.] INTERPRETED. 85 
 
 Thus, with the tenor of these various testimonies^, 
 concerning the future, from other parts of the 
 sacred Word, the allusion to sorcery, in the vision 
 before us, quite coincides. This abomination will 
 yet abound in the Jewish land ; and, accordingly, 
 while the Prophet Malachi threatens that the 
 Lord, in the day of His coming, " will be a swift 
 witness against the sorcerers ;^^^ here, we see 
 something of that witness in the exterminating 
 judgment which will have fallen upon a proportion 
 of the guilty parties ; only, we further learn that, 
 as in the case of these other enormities, so, here, 
 again, impenitence will characterize the survivors. 
 
 Nor'of their fornication s.'\ Thus, it is implied, 
 " filthiness of the flesh," also, will be a feature of 
 Jewish apostacy, in the latter day. To this the 
 Epistles of Peter and of Jude abundantly testify. 
 See 2 Peter ii. 10—18. Jude ver. 4—8. And as 
 the sorceries just adverted to, so this awful 
 licentiousness will be propagated from "Babylon," 
 called, as she is, "the Mother of FoRNicATiONsf 
 
 AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." EcV. Xvii. 5. 
 
 See also Ch. xiv. 8 ; xviii. 8 ; xix. 2 : and Vol. i. 
 •391, 392. Hence, Jerusalem will prove com- 
 parable to Sodom of old, after whose name she is 
 branded, by the Spirit, in a following chapter. 
 Ch. xi. 8. 
 
 May not this suggest to the reader what the 
 
 * Mai. iii. 0. t See mareinal translation. 
 
86 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. ix. 13 21. 
 
 " forbidding to many " is, which the Spirit 
 adduces as one characteristic of the apostacy of 
 the latter times. (1 Tim. iv. 1 — 3.) Nor is this 
 inconsistent (as has been hastily alleged by one of 
 the popular expositors of the day) with our Lord's 
 allusion to the manners of the Jews, just prior 
 to His second advent, — " marrying and giving 
 in marriage.''''* For, this proverbial feature of 
 worldliness may well co -exist with a career of 
 licentiousness ; just as our Lord's comparison 
 intimates that it did, in the days before the flood. 
 As to Old Testament prophecies of the future, to 
 the same effect, they are numerous. The reader 
 may consult the following: — Ps. 1. 18; Isa. Ivii. 3; 
 Jer. ix. 2 ; xxiii. 10 ; Hos. vii. 4 ; Mal. iii. 5. 
 
 JVor of their thefts^ This is another class of 
 offences which will bring down Divine wrath 
 upon the Jewish people in the coming crisis. 
 The Prophets frequently refer to it as attaching 
 to all classes of the Jews. Thus Isaiah : — " Thy 
 princes are rebellious and companions of thieves, 
 every one loveth gifts and followeth after rewards." 
 Isaiah i. 23. Again, in the Psalms, this reproach 
 is addressed to them by God : — " When thou sawest 
 a thief, then thou consentedst with him.^^ Ps. 1. 18. 
 And, in the Prophet Zechariah, we read of the 
 Lord's curse " entering into the house of the 
 
 thief r^^ 
 
 * Matt. xxiv. 38. t Zecli. v. 4. 
 
CH. ix. 13 21.] INTERPRETED. 87 
 
 There are numerous passages, also, in the 
 Prophets generally, in which the use of " wicked 
 balances and deceitful weights '' is charged upon 
 the Jewish people, pointing, it is submitted, to 
 the future ; whilst, in the Epistles of Peter and 
 Jude, already adduced, covetousness, the root of 
 theft, is especially marked in the enumeration of 
 other vices which will yet be rampant u])on the 
 earth : James, also, in his epistle (addressed let 
 us remember " to the twelve tribes^^) speaks of the 
 hire of the labourers being hept back by fraud, 
 and of the cries ,of them which have reaped 
 entering into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. 
 See 2 Peter ii. 14, 15 ; Jude 11; James v. 4. 
 
 Notwithstanding, then, the preceding woes 
 which will have come upon the Jews, after they 
 return to their land, foj- this and their other evil 
 doings, even though one third of the wicked 
 perpetrators shall have been destroyed by fire, 
 the survivors are yet obdurate and impenitent. 
 'J 'hey are given over to delusion, to "believe a 
 lie"* (as the Apostle speaks, and doubtless of 
 this very time) and so they persist in their 
 infatuated course. 
 
 And oh ! what a picture this of the heart of 
 man, fortified by sin and Satan, against God's 
 authority and holiness ! Christian reader ! Israel, 
 in then? past history, have taught us many lessons 
 
 * 2 Thess. ii. 11. 
 
88 rilE APOCALYPSE [cii. IX, 13—21. 
 
 conceniing the flesh — what it is, even under the 
 most promising circumstances. But, let us not 
 forget that their future history, opened up in the 
 prophetic page, is necessary to complete our 
 instruction. And, with this before us, how plain 
 the truth of the incorrigibleness of our fallen 
 nature by mere education or discipline. Surely, 
 we should here gather what our dependance upon 
 God is ; and that it is only the mighty power of 
 the Spirit that can direct and keep us in the right 
 way. "/ iviW and '^ye shaW is the law of God's 
 acting which alone will prove effectual for good 
 with Israel. Let us learn that it is the same with 
 ourselves, — that we may not have confidence in 
 the flesh, but cleave to our God, sensible that 
 power belongeth only unto Him ; and that no 
 matter what our knowledge or experience of the 
 past, if His Almighty arm hold us not up, we 
 shall, we must perish from the right way. Alas! 
 how sadly the truth concerning the election and 
 perseverance of God's saints is misunderstood ; 
 when it is seen in any other light than this, as 
 evincing Ood^s everlasting love, which once appre- 
 hending us will not let us go. Here, believer, is 
 your security. And can your sense of it be abused, 
 when it is recosnized as the fruit of Divine love? 
 
CH. X. 1 11] INTERPRETED. 89 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Verses 1 — IJ. 
 
 1 And I saw anotlier mighty angel come down from heaven, 
 clothed with a cloud : and a rainbow was upon his head, and his 
 face ivas as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire. 
 
 2 And he had in his hand a little book open : and he set his 
 right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth. 
 
 8 And cried with aloud voice, as when a lion roareth : and when 
 he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. 
 
 4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was 
 about to write : and I heard a voice from Leaven saying unto 
 me. Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and 
 write them not. 
 
 5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the 
 earth lifted up his hand to heaven. 
 
 6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created 
 heaven, and the things that therein are, and tlie earth, and the 
 things tliat therein are, and the sea, and the things which aie 
 therein, that there shall be time no longer. 
 
 7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he 
 shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he 
 hath declared to his servants the prophets. 
 
 8 And the voice which I heai-d from heaven spake unto me again, 
 and said. Go caid take the little book which is open in the hand of 
 the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. 
 
 9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the 
 little book. And he said unto me. Take it, and eat it up ; and it 
 shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as 
 honey. 
 
 10 And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it 
 up ; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey : and as soon as J 
 had eaten it, my belly was bitter. 
 
 11 And he said unto me. Thou must prophesy again before 
 many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. 
 
90 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. X.' 1 11. 
 
 We cannot have proceeded so far throiif^li this 
 book of wondrous import without being deeply 
 impressed with a sense of terror at the fearful 
 things, it presents to our contemplation. Judg- 
 ment after judgent has come forth upon the Jewish 
 land, not to speak here of the earth at large ; yet, 
 the God who sends these judgments, is the God 
 of all grace ; and that land, and the nation to which 
 it has been apportioned from of old, are regarded 
 by Him with tenderness.* Nor is He unmindful 
 of His promise to establish them, and the whole 
 earth, through them, in ultimate blessedness. 
 Hence, then, we cannot be unprepared for meeting 
 with a pause in the midst of the rehearsal of these 
 terrible things ; wherein, to strengthen the hearts 
 of His suffering people, God intimates, by an 
 imposing vision, tJiat soon, now, the matter should 
 be brought to its issue. Such seems to be the 
 purport of the scene that now opens. 
 
 Ver. 1. And I saw another rnighty angel, 
 come down from heaven.'] We have already 
 had numerous angels, evidently created beings, 
 presented to us, in the course of these visions ; 
 and the sounding of the trumpet by the sixth 
 angel has just occurred. Hence, there is no 
 oround for the notion that the Lord Jesus 
 
 o 
 
 himself is here denoted. To suppose this would 
 be to put Him into the same category with the 
 
 * See Deut. xi. 12 ; Zecli. i. 12 — 10, 
 
CH.X. 1 11.] INTERPRETED. 91 
 
 creatures of his hand. Were it simply said an 
 angel there might be some colour for such inter- 
 pretation, though even then we should expect to 
 find the definite article employed. But here the 
 words are " another angel," — at once suggesting 
 that he belongs to the class of those heavenly 
 agents previously mentioned. 
 
 Clothed loith a cloud, and a rainhow was upon 
 his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and 
 his feet as pillars of fire.] These are certainly 
 the insignia, as it were, of the Lord Jesus himself. 
 At his ascension a cloud received him up out of 
 the sight of His disciples. And, in regard to His 
 second coming, it is said, that He shall come with 
 clouds. Round about the throne, also, wherein 
 He is represented as seated, in chapter iv. of this 
 book, we read — " there was a rainbow.''^ Again, 
 at the scene of the transfiguration, it is recorded 
 that '^ His face did shine as the sun/"* while, in 
 this very book, in the introductory vision, what is 
 said of His feet, — " that they were like unto fine 
 brass, as if they burned in a furnace," — seems 
 quite equivalent to the remaining feature of the 
 description of this angel, — " his feet as pillars of 
 fire." All this is not disputed. Bat, still it does 
 not establish the identity of this angel with Christ : 
 especially, in the face of the anomaly noticed 
 which this would involve. A relatice connexion 
 in the case we , may indeed look for : and that 
 
92 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. X. 1 11. 
 
 whicli quite suffices to account for the common 
 features of description employed — is tlie connexion 
 between the Lord Jesus — and this angel as His 
 Ambassador. Because the latter appears in this 
 capacity ; therefore, the insignia of his great king, 
 are, as it were, worn by him. 
 
 Ver. 2. And he had in his hand a little hook 
 open.] The word is properly opened, the participle 
 of the verb used in the fifth chapter to express 
 the great problem concerning the sealed book — 
 " Who is worthy to 02)en the book." Its use here 
 may indicate that it is the same book which is 
 now exhibited in the Angel's hand ; only it is no 
 longer sealed but unrolled. Its being a little 
 book, also, may be said to accord with this, as 
 though the unrolling had diminished its compass. 
 But, perhaps, the use of the diminutive term 
 here was designed to suggest that now in the 
 events of the Aj^ocalypse remaining to be accom- 
 plished, some minor prophetic book, one of the 
 Old Testament prophecies would be at length 
 fulfilled. And certainly there is a striking- 
 resemblance in import between the visions of 
 Zechariah and those which henceforth succeed 
 in this book. Hence, by some writers, the former 
 has been denominated " a little Apocalypse." 
 (Compare Zech. iv. and Rev. xi. ; Zech. v. and 
 Rev. xvii.) Still, whichever way we take it, this 
 " little book," has a relation to the subsequent 
 
CIl . X . 1 — 11.] INTEKPE ETED. 93 
 
 chapters before us, and tlius to the sealed volume 
 mentioned in Ch. v. ; and being now seen in the 
 angel's hand, it would suggest to the intelligent 
 beholder, that the process of the redemption of 
 the inheritance, on the part of Israel's great 
 Goel, would soon be completed. And, by such 
 recognition we can easily understand, how the 
 faith of the remnant will yet be sustained, at 
 the affecting crisis which is contemplated. But, 
 as we read on, we find they are not left to be 
 thus encouraged by mere symbol : — 
 
 And he set his right foot upon the sea, and 
 his left foot on the earth.] This action of the 
 Ambassador- Angel, suited, like the opened book 
 in his hand, to the announcement he makes, is 
 that of one taking possession of the wide territory 
 of the earth, or, of the land, — as it may be 
 translated — Isi-ael's land. For, of their Messialj, 
 it is emphatically said: — "He shall have dominion, 
 also, from sea to sea, and from the river unto the 
 ends of the earth." Ps. Ixxii. 8. And, again : — 
 " I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right 
 hand in the rivers." Ps. Ixxxix. 25. 
 
 Ver. 3. And cried ivith a loud voice as lohen 
 a lion 7vareth.] The roaring of the lion, as indi- 
 cating his search after his prey,* is known to 
 spread terror among the beasts of the forest ; and, 
 so it seems proverbially u^ed in Scripture as a 
 
 * Ps. civ. 21. 
 
94 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. X. 1 11. 
 
 significant j)relude to the breaking out of God's 
 wrath upon His enemies ; especially, is it employed 
 as a signal of the Divine interposition in the latter 
 day. Thus, in connexion with the threatened 
 chastisement of Israel, we read in the Prophet 
 Amos : " The Lion hath roared, who will not 
 fearT* 
 
 But it is principally in reference to the 
 vengeance which the Lord will, at last, take 
 upon the oppressing enemies of Israel that we 
 find this note of alarm alluded to in the Prophecies. 
 For example, where the Lord speaks, in Hosea, 
 of restoring Ephraim, the ten tribes, from the 
 lands of their dispersion, and leading them up 
 to the rescue of Jerusalem, when it will be in 
 possession of the exulting Gentiles — a purpose 
 not obscurely revealed in the Prophets f — it is 
 added, " They shall walk after the Lord ; He shall 
 roar like a lion.'''' Hos. xi. 10. 
 
 Again, in the Prophet Jeremiah, we read : — 
 " For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which 
 is called by my name, and should ye be utterly 
 unpunished ? Ye shall not be unpunished : for 
 I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of 
 the earth, saith the Lord of hosts. Therefore 
 prophecy thou against them all these words, and 
 say unto them. The Lord shall roar from on high^^ 
 
 * Amos iii. 8. See also ver. 4 ; and cli. i. 2. 
 t Micah iv. 11—18; v. 8. Zecli ix. 9—15. 
 
CH. X. 1 11.] INTERPRETED. 95 
 
 (the full metaphor of the Holt's roar is not here 
 introduced, but it is sufficiently imj^lied,) '^ and 
 utter his voice from his holy habitation ; he shall 
 mightily roar upon his habitation ; he shall give a 
 shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all 
 the inhabitants of the earth. A noise shall come 
 even to the end of the earth ; for the Lord hath a 
 controversy loith the nations ; he will plead with 
 all flesh : he will give them that are wicked to 
 the sword, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord 
 of hosts. Behold, evil shall go forth from nation 
 to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised 
 up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of 
 the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the 
 earth even unto the other end of the earth : they 
 shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor 
 buried : they shall be dung upon the ground." 
 Jer. XXV. 29 — So. This language, besides illus- 
 trating generally the Scriptural purport of the 
 lion^s roar, relates, also, it is submitted, to the 
 very period pointed at in the Angel's vision 
 before us. For, like it, the context is occuj)ied 
 with the subject of Israel's a23proaching deliverance 
 from judgment, and the Gentile nations coming 
 under it ; whereby, at length, the sovereignty of 
 Messiah is established over the whole earth. 
 
 Ver.3,4. Andiohen he had cried, seven thunders 
 uttered their voices. And lohen the seven thunders 
 had lettered their voices, I was about to lorite : and 
 
90 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. X. 1 11. 
 
 I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Seal 
 up those things which the seven thunders uttered, 
 and lorite them not.] These thunders, from having 
 voices associated with them, and such, as the 
 Apostle, it appears, could reduce to writing, 
 should, perhaps, be regarded as articulate utter- 
 ances, but loud as thunder. Just as it is recorded, 
 in the Gospel by St. John, that the voice from 
 heaven, whereby the Father acknowledged the 
 cry of Jesus — " Father glorify thy name," thus 
 fell upon the ears of the people — " The people, 
 therefore, that stood by and heard it, said that 
 it thundered." John xii. S8, 29. What these 
 thunders imported we are not here informed, the 
 Apostle being restrained from communicating it 
 to us. But, as there were seven vial-angels, the 
 commissioned ministers of wrath, awaiting the 
 sounding, by their fellow, of the seventh trumpet, 
 to which this vision is manifestly introductory ; 
 may we not, reasonably, suppose that these voices, 
 as thunder, issued from the??i — anticipatory re- 
 hearsals of the Divine judgments with which the 
 proclamation of the present angel was to be 
 followed up ; and which are afterwards furnished 
 to us, 'as the vials are, successively, poured out. 
 The charge to " seal up " the utterances of the 
 thunder, by which restraint is put upon the 
 Apostle's writing them, would seem to confirm 
 this. At least, it seems to denote that they were 
 
CH. X. 1 11.] INTERPRETED. 97 
 
 to be communicated eventually ; for this is 
 implied^ in other places, where the same charge 
 is given, in regard to prophetic disclosures. 
 See Dan. xii. 4 — 9. It may be that the Lord 
 would thus indicate to us that the vial plagues ^ 
 to which these thunders are related, constitute 
 that very vengeance upon the wicked Gentiles, 
 which He had, of old, spoken of, even so far 
 back as in the time of Moses, when he prefaced 
 the recital with these remarkable words : — " Is not 
 this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among 
 my treasures ?" Deut. xxxii. 34. 
 
 Ver. 5. And the angel which I saiv stand upon 
 the sea arid upon the earth lifted up his hand to 
 heaven^ Here the account of the angel just 
 presented to us is resumed. It was the custom, 
 in ancient times, to swear with an uplifted hand. 
 Thus we read, in the Book of Genesis, of Abraham 
 having lifted up his hand unto the Lord that he 
 would not take anything of the recovered spoil 
 of Sodom and Gomorrah. Gen. xiv. 22. And 
 the Lord himself recites the same as His own 
 action, in reference to His eventual interposition, 
 in the latter day, in behalf of Israel, after He will 
 have chastised them with severe judgments.* 
 It may be profitable to trace this latter reference, 
 and see how it comes in : f — '^ To me belongeth 
 
 * See also Ezekiel xx. 5, 15, 2.3. 
 + Deut. xxxii. 35, 3G, 40—43. 
 VOL. II. 5 F 
 
98 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. X. 1 — 11. 
 
 vengeance and recompense ; tlieir foot shall slide 
 in due time ; for the day of their calamity is at 
 hand, and the things that shall come upon them 
 make haste. For the Lord shall judge His people, 
 and repent Himself for His servants, when He 
 seeth that their power is gone, and there is none 
 shut up or left." The reason here assigned for 
 inflicting vengeance, — even the Lord's judging, 
 (that is, delivering His people Israel,) sufficiently 
 shows upon whom such vengeance is intended 
 to fall, namely, their Gentile oppressors. With 
 this information, from the context, we are the 
 better prepared for what follows in verse 40, — 
 the solemn attestation in question : ^' For I lift 
 up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever. 
 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand 
 take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance 
 to mine enemies, and will reward them that 
 hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with 
 blood, and my sword shall devour flesh ; and that 
 with the blood of the slain and of the captives, 
 from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy." 
 Here, we cannot doubt but that the parties 
 threatened with vengeance are still the same, 
 Israel's oppressors, called here " the enemy.''' 
 •With this view only, is the following verse 
 intelligible, which, contemplating the event, 
 hereupon, summons the surviving Gentiles to 
 rejoice with Israel: — *^ Eejoice, ye nations. 
 
CH. X. 1 11.] INTERPRETED. 99 
 
 with his people : for He will avenge the blood of 
 His servants, and will render vengeance to his 
 adversaries, and will be merciful unto His land, 
 and to His people. " ver. 43. Thus, we perceive, 
 that not only is the description of the angel, in 
 the vision before us, with uplifted hand, accordant 
 with the Divine action spoken of in the Old 
 Testament, but the crisis to which both relate 
 seems also identical, as though the one scene 
 were but the execution, at last, of the announce- 
 ment made in the other. 
 
 Ver. 6. And sware hy him that liveth for ever 
 and ever, who created heaven, and the things that 
 therein are, and the sea, and the things which are 
 therein^ Such is the form of the oath pronounced 
 by the angel ; in which he appeals to God as the 
 ever-living One, and the Creator of all things — 
 a style of frequent use in the Scriptures to 
 distinguish the true Jehovah, from the false gods 
 of the heathen. Its introduction here is intended, 
 doubtless, to have a peculiar bearing u^on the 
 character of the period contemplated, which, as 
 we have already seen, will be marked by the 
 grossest idolatry. See, also, ch. xiv. 6, 7. 
 
 That there should he time no longer.'] That is, 
 that there should be no more delay ; but that 
 at the appointed period, presently defined, the 
 Divine purpose would surely be consummated. 
 A succession of "heavy judgments had already 
 f2 
 
100 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. X. 1 11. 
 
 come upon the Jewish, people ; and, now, the 
 Antichristian host having invaded and become 
 possessed of Jerusalem, a terrible career of 
 tyranny was to run its course. But, hereupon, 
 this mighty Envoy, wearing the insignia of the 
 Lord himself, interposes, and declares that a 
 limit is set to this tyranny, and that the great 
 crisis of deliverance would not tarry beyond the 
 appointed time. 
 
 In the Prophet Daniel we meet with a similar 
 angelic announcement made in his hearing, as 
 though to relieve his mind at the prospect of the 
 great tribulation before his nation : — " Then, I, 
 Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, 
 the one on this side of the bank of the river, and 
 the other on that side of the bank of the river. 
 And one said to the man clothed in linen, which 
 was upon the waters of the river. How long shall 
 it be to the end of these wonders ? And I heard 
 the man clothed in linen, which was upon the 
 waters of the river, when he held up his right 
 hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware 
 by Him that liveth for ever, that it shall be for a 
 time, times and an half; and when he shall have 
 accomplished to scatter the power of the holy 
 people, all these things shall be finished."* Here, 
 again, we have the uplifted hand and oath of an 
 angel, as in the vision before us, and the accom- 
 
 * Daniel xii. 5 — 7. 
 
CH. X. 1 — IL] INTERPRETED. 101 
 
 panying proclamation is substantially the same, 
 the only difference being, that the duration of 
 Jewish oppression under Antichrist, three years 
 and a half, is explicitly mentioned ; whereas, in 
 the Apocalyptic vision before us, the perspective 
 of such duration is left by the Angel undefined, 
 and he rather hastens to celebrate the event of 
 Israel's redemption, by which it will be closed. 
 Both visions meet at this point, — the accom- 
 plishment of the Divine anger against the Jewish 
 people — the signal, as it will be, for retribution 
 upon the Gentiles to begin. But the process of 
 this, which was sealed up from Daniel, is com- 
 municated to John in the seven vial plagues 
 which are initiated by the sounding of the seventh 
 angel. 
 
 Ven 7. But in the days of the voice of the 
 seventh angel, lohen he shall begin to sound, the 
 mystery of God should be finished, as he hath 
 declared to his servants the prophets^ God's 
 forbearance with the wicked, in general, who 
 abuse that forbearance, is a mystery. More 
 especially is it a mystery that the proud Gentiles 
 should be allowed to prosper, whilst Israel, that 
 nation w^hom God chose, of old, to Himself, as 
 His peculiar people, lies in its present abject 
 condition. To this purport the Apostle writes in 
 his Epistle to . the Romans : — " I would not, 
 brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this 
 
102 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. X. 1 11. 
 
 mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own 
 conceits ; that blindness in part is happened to 
 Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come 
 in." Rom. xi. 25. Thus, the condition of the 
 Jewish people, even now, is a mystery. But 
 mystery will attach still more to them, at the 
 period which is here contemplated, when, after 
 being smitten by direct judgments from the hand 
 of God, they shall be undergoing the relentless 
 tyranny of the Antichrist; becoming a butt, as 
 it were, against which, for the scorn of him and 
 his myrmidons to be directed. This state of 
 things, however, shall not last ; hence it is added 
 by the angel, — " the mystery of God should be 
 finished in the days of the voice of the seventh 
 angel, when he shall begin to sound." Then 
 shall be introduced God's own order of things, 
 as He has oft witnessed to by the mouth of His 
 Prophets, in which the first dominion shall be the 
 portion of the daughter of Zion,* and the Gentiles 
 be subordinated to the Jews, in happy allegiance 
 to their glorious King. Thus, the ways of God 
 will be vindicated in the setting in of the 
 times of refreshing and restitution of all things^ 
 as Peter calls them, which God hath spoken 
 of by all His holy Prophets since the world 
 began.f 
 
 * Micah iv. 8. -t Acts iii. 21. 
 
CH. X. 1 11.] INTERPRETED. 103 
 
 This vision, as a whole, remarkably corresponds 
 with the tenor of the 50th Psalm, beginning, as it 
 does, in like manner, with a Divine proclamation 
 which challenges the attention of the whole 
 earth : — " The mighty God, even the Lord, hath 
 spoken, and called the earth from the rising of 
 the sun unto the going down thereof" Up to 
 this time, God will have been, as it were, letting 
 the nations of the earth pursue their self-willed 
 course with impunity. But, now. He breaks silence 
 and speaks to the same purport with the Angel, 
 in the Apocalypse, that there shall be delay no 
 longer, in bringing to an end the grievous 
 sufferings of the righteous Jewish remnant, the 
 nucleus of the destined nation. Accordingly, it 
 is added, as a joyous announcement for their hope 
 to feed on : — " Out of Zion, the perfection of 
 beauty, God hath shined." Such will be the happy 
 consummation. Then follows the preliminary 
 Advent, in the Person of Christ, to take vengeance 
 upon their enemies : — " Our God shall come, and 
 shall not keep silence : a fire shall devour before 
 him, and it shall be very tempestuous round 
 about him. He shall call to the heavens from 
 above, and to the earth, that he may judge his 
 people." This "judging," we cannot doubt, refers 
 to His delivering them, i. e. the Jewish remnant, 
 in which sense, it is said elsewhere, " God is the 
 
104 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. X. 1 11. 
 
 judge of tlie widows,"* And now comes His 
 acknowledgment and reception of the remnant, 
 under the character by which they shall be 
 so blessedly distinguished, amidst the general 
 apostacy : — " Gather my saints together unto me ; 
 those that have made a covenant Avith me by 
 sacrifice." The issue is, that " the heavens shall 
 declare his righteousness ; for God is judge 
 himself" — the rehearsal of which event may be 
 said to be given in the outpouring, from heaven, 
 of the seven vials, by which the Antichrist and 
 his confederacy of Gentile nations shall, at length, 
 suffer retribution. And it is worthy of remark, 
 that, in reference to the vial plagues, language 
 is used, in the Apocalypse, which brings to mind 
 this very verse in the 50th Psalm : — " Thou art 
 righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt 
 be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have 
 shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou 
 hast given them blood to drink ; for they are 
 worthy. And I heard another out of the altar 
 say. Even so. Lord God Almighty, true and 
 righteous are thy judgments ^^ E,ev. xvi. 5 — 7. 
 
 Ver. 8, And the voice which I heard from 
 heaven spake unto me again, and said. Go and 
 take the little hook which is open in the hand of 
 the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon 
 
 * Ps. Ixviii. 5. 
 
CH. X. 1 11.] INTERPRETED. 105 
 
 the earthy This voice had just been heard 
 enjoining a suppression for the time of what 
 the seven thunders had uttered, (see ver. 4.) 
 Now it addresses the Apostle once more, 
 directing him to take the book out of the angel's 
 hand. Perhaps it was the voice of the Lord 
 Jesus himself which, at the first, had sounded, 
 like a trumpet, in the Apostle's ear, commissioning 
 him to write to the seven churches, (Rev. i. 11,) 
 and then again had called him up into heaven 
 (ch. iv. 1) to see the rehearsal of events sub- 
 sequent to their establishment. The direction in 
 this present case is preliminary to the committal 
 to the Apostle of another series of prophetic 
 visions. 
 
 Ver. 9. And I went unto the angel, and said 
 unto him, Give me the little hooh. And he said 
 unto me, Take it, and eat it up ; and it shall 
 make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth 
 sweet as honey ^^ Obedient to the heavenly voice, 
 the Apostle asks from the angel the book. 
 Whereupon, it is given to him with the pre- 
 scription that he should eat it up, and with a 
 declaration of the effects that it would work in 
 him. The contents, on digestion, would make 
 his belly bitter ; they would prove distressing to 
 him, since they were details of grievous suffering. 
 But they would be sweet in his mouth, — that 
 is, enjoyable, in regard to first impressions, as 
 
106 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. X. 1 11. 
 
 rehearsing the redemption of the earth from the 
 incubus of woe hitherto resting upon it. The 
 same process is enjoined on the Prophet Ezekiel, 
 in regard to his commission to the house of 
 Israel, and with the same result, although not so 
 definitely expressed. In the second chapter, the 
 Lord, after recounting the rebellious character of 
 Israel, and warning the Prophet against being 
 intimidated by them, thus proceeds : — " Open 
 thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. And when 
 I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me ; 
 and, lo, a roll of a book was therein ; and he 
 spread it before me ; and it was written within 
 and without: and there was written therein 
 lamentations, and mourning, and woe. Moreover, 
 he said unto me. Son of man, eat that thou 
 findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the 
 house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he 
 caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, 
 Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy 
 bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did 
 I eat it ; and it was in my mouth as honey for 
 sweetness." Ezek. ii. 8 — 10; iii. 1 — S. Here, 
 the hitter efifect of eating this roll is not men- 
 tioned, as it is in the Apostle's case; but this 
 may be because what is equivalent had been just 
 declared by the Prophet, namely, that its contents 
 were fraught with '' lamentations, and mournings 
 and woe ;" whereas, its sweetness in the mouth. 
 
CH.X. 1 — 11.] INTERPRETED. 107 
 
 significant of its acceptableness to the Prophet, 
 as a whole, when he contemplated the ultimate 
 design of God toward Israel, is formally declared, 
 because it had not been previously anticipated. 
 
 That such eating of their respective rolls of 
 prophecy should be imposed on these servants 
 of God, in connection with the discharge of 
 their office, is, no doubt, full of significance, 
 intimating, among other things, that in the matter 
 of inspiration, God employs not only the human 
 pen, but the human heart and feelings. For 
 example, when Jeremiah exclaims, after pro- 
 nouncing the Lord's exhortation to Israel to 
 repent : — " But if ye will not hear it, my soul 
 shall weep in secret places for your pride ;"* 
 the inspiration of which he was the subject, 
 exercised his affections ; God's own heart, being 
 rendered out through these emotions of com- 
 passion and tenderness for the sinful people. 
 And so when the Prophets speak with indignation 
 against sin, God bathes their souls as it were 
 in His own Spirit, so that they have fellowship 
 with Him in the use of their moral faculties. 
 Thus in Prophecy, and in the Scriptures generally, 
 we have not only God's words, but His very 
 feelings humanized, that we may be accessible 
 to them. His procedure herein being but the 
 natural budding forth and consequence of the 
 * Jer. xiii. 17 ; see also ix. 1 ; xiv. 17. 
 
108 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. X. 1 — 11. 
 
 great mystery of the Incarnation. Of course, as 
 in the case of Balaam, the Divine inspiration may 
 lay hold on an agent disaffected to the thoughts 
 and plans of God. But even here we see the 
 affections are, for the time, constrained to reci- 
 procate the Divine purpose. 
 
 But again : the Angel's requisition of John to 
 eat the book has an application to all who are 
 ministers of Christ. It teaches, that the truths to 
 which they testify should first be received into 
 their own hearts, and, penetrating their moral 
 system, be incorporated, as it were, with their 
 very being. Of the Lord Jesus, who is the truth, 
 personally and essentially, every believer is to 
 partake, eating His flesh and drinking His blood.* 
 Except we do this, we have no life in us. The 
 meaning of which is, that the life of Him, our 
 risen Head, is to dwell within us, to be the staple 
 and nourishment of our inner man. And, it is 
 but in keeping with this, that the word of His 
 truth, that which is the expression of His thoughts, 
 should so thoroughly possess us, when we dispense 
 it, as to be like the food which is assimilated to, 
 and becomes part of ourselves. Thus, out of 
 the abundance of the heart, should our mouths 
 speak. 
 
 Ver. 10. A7id I took the little book out of the 
 angeVs hand, and ate it up.] Here, and in the 
 
 * See Johu vi. 53. 
 
(^H. X. 1 11. J INTERPRETED. 109 
 
 similar record about Ezekiel's roll, it may appear, 
 at first sight, as though we had no alternative but 
 to believe that the Apostle literally ate this book 
 as enjoined. In which case, the act was a sensible 
 sign to him of the deep and engrossing interest 
 which he should take in executing the commission 
 now entrusted to him, prophesying against the 
 nations ; for, with them, henceforward, his tes- 
 timony has, principally, to do. The trumpets 
 had indicated judgment upon Israel ; but now the 
 time has come for this series of visitations to close, 
 and for the Lord to take the cup out of Israel's 
 hand, and put it into the hand of their enemies. 
 
 But, perhaps, we are warranted in interpreting 
 the eating of the hook^ after the manner of our 
 Lord's own exposition of such expression in 
 reference to the necessity of eating His flesh."^ 
 " How can this man," it was said, " give us his 
 flesh to eat ?" " It is the Spirit," answered our 
 Lord, " that quickeneth ; the flesh profiteth 
 nothing; the words that I speak unto you they 
 are spirit and they are life." Thus, then, may 
 we say of the enjoined eating of the little book — 
 ' it is the Spirit that quickeneth ; the hook 
 profiteth nothing.' In other words, it may be 
 hereby signified that the Divine holiness, vindicated 
 by the bitter chastisement on evil, to which John 
 was now about to testify, would prove sweet or 
 
 * Jolm vi. 52 — 63. 
 
110 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. X. 1 — 11. 
 
 grateful to his palate, yea, and to all who should 
 taste of the grace of God. The Apostle, thus 
 receiving, in spirit, the truth that God chasteneth 
 to profit, could rejoice, with trembling, in the 
 assurance that when the Lord's judgments should 
 come to pervade the earth, the inhabitants of the 
 world would learn righteousness. Isaiah xxvi. 9. 
 Perhaps, this may be the place for repeating, 
 with some detail of evidence, what has been 
 barely noticed in a preceding page,* that this 
 " little book," in the Apocalypse, is but a more 
 extended rehearsal of the prophecies ofZechariah. 
 The coincidence between the two series of visions 
 is strikingly remarkable ; and they cast light, 
 mutually, upon each other. In the first place, 
 let us look at the agreement of circumstances with 
 which they commence. In the one case, the 
 Apostle John receives the little book in con- 
 nection with the announcement that the mystery 
 of God is about to be finished^ that is, as we 
 have seen, that the sufferings of Israel are about 
 to terminate, and that the long cherished purpose 
 of God will be consummated without delay. In 
 the other, the visions of Zechariah are thus 
 introduced : — " Thus saith the Lord of hosts : 
 I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a 
 great jealousy. And I am very sore displeased 
 with the heathen that are at ease," the Gentile 
 
 * Page 92. 
 
CH. X. 1 11.] INTERPRETED. Ill 
 
 nations. Then, the reason for this displeasure 
 is added : " For I was but- a little displeased, and 
 they helped forward the affliction." Here, we 
 perceive, is the very mystery which is spoken of 
 in the Revelation, as about to be brought to a 
 close — the nations are contemplated as having the 
 upper hand, while Israel is oppressed ; whereupon, 
 God declares that he is jealous with a great 
 jealousy. 
 
 Again, a vision follows, in the Apocalypse, 
 significant of the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the 
 Tem]3le (ch. xi.) : — " And there was given me a 
 reed like unto a rod : and the angel stood, saying. 
 Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the 
 altar, and them that worship therein." To this, 
 a like scene succeeds, in Zechariah : — " Therefore 
 thus saith the Lord ; I am returned to Jerusalem 
 with mercies : my house shall be built in it, 
 saith the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be 
 stretched forth upon Jerusalem. Cry yet, saying. 
 Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; My cities through 
 prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the 
 Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose 
 Jerusalem."* Again, " I lifted up mine eyes again, 
 and looked, and behold a man with a measuring 
 line in his hand. Then said I, Whither goest thou ? 
 And he said unto me. To measure Jerusalem, 
 to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is 
 * Verses 16 — 17. 
 
112 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. X. 1 11. 
 
 the length thereof. And, behold, the angel that 
 talked with me went forth, and another angel 
 went out to meet him, and said unto him, E-un, 
 speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall 
 be inhabited as towns without walls for the 
 multitude of men and cattle therein "* 
 
 Again, in the 4th chapter of Zechariah, we 
 have another vision, the counterpart of which 
 is before us in the Apocalypse : — " And the angel 
 that talked with me came again, and waked me, 
 as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, and 
 said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, 
 I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of 
 gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his 
 seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven 
 lamps, which are upon the top thereof: And two 
 olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the 
 bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof." 
 Thus, we observe, the olive trees fed the candle- 
 stick, that is, conveyed oil to its lamps, through 
 the conducting pipes. " So I answered and spake 
 to the angel that talked with me, saying. What 
 are these, my lord ? Then the angel that talked 
 with me answered and said unto me, Knowest 
 thou not what these be ? And I said, iSTo, my lord. 
 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying. 
 This is the word of the Lord unto Zerub babel, 
 saying. Not by might, nor by power, but by my 
 
 * Verses 1 — 4. 
 
CH. X. 1 11.] INTERPRETED. 113 
 
 spirit, saith the Lord of hosts."* By this oracular 
 utterance, pronounced over the whole apparatus 
 of the candlestick and its appurtenances, it seems 
 that God would teach Joshua and Zerubbabel 
 (for they both had to do with Israel, one of 
 them civilly, the other ecclesiastically) that what- 
 ever success attended their exertions in restoring 
 the Jewish polity and worship, it was not to be 
 attributed to any resources of theirs, but to the 
 Divine Spirit, working by their instrumentality. 
 And, in a following verse, their identification 
 with this vision is put beyond doubt in the 
 Angel's answer to the Prophet's definite enquiry : 
 '•' What be these two olive branches which through 
 the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of 
 themselves ?" " These," said the Angel, " are 
 the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of 
 the whole earth." ver. 12, 14. Typically, at least, 
 Joshua and Zerubbabel are here described. 
 And now, turning to the 11th chapter of the 
 Apocalypse, we have their antitypes presented 
 to us as Christ's witnesses, in the latter day, 
 amongst the returned Jews, when the Divine 
 dealings with that people shall reach their 
 appointed crisis : — " I will give power" (says the 
 Ambassador- Angel, representing Christ) " unto 
 my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a 
 thousand two " hundred and threescore days, 
 
 * Verses 1 — 0. 
 
114 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. X. 1 11. 
 
 clothed in sackcloth." And who are these — the 
 executors, as they are described, in a following 
 verse, of portentous judgments like those wrought 
 by Moses and Elijah ? " These.;' it is added, 
 are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks 
 standing before the God of the earth."* That is, 
 as Joshua and Zerubbabel acted, in their day, 
 these servants of God will act, only far more 
 imposingly, in the coming period of Jerusalem's 
 revival. Here, indeed, tioo candlesticks are 
 spoken of; whereas, in Zechariah, only one is 
 mentioned ; but the assigning to each Witness a 
 connection with the whole, single, candlestick, is, 
 doubtless, all that is intended by the variation. 
 Not to dwell on this, however, (a point which 
 will meet us again as we proceed,) the analogy 
 with which we are engaged between the pro- 
 phecies of Zechariah, and what remains of the 
 Apocalypse, — the little book consigned to John, — 
 may be still further traced ; and one capital topic 
 is especially worthy of notice, — the common 
 reference in both, to the revival of Babylon. 
 
 In the 5th chapter of Zechariah we have this 
 remarkable vision on the subject: — "Then the 
 angel that talked with me went forth, and said 
 unto me. Lift up now thine eyes, and see what 
 is this that goeth forth. And I said. What is it ? 
 And he said. This is an ephah that goeth forth. 
 
 Verses 3, 4. 
 
CH. X. 1 11.] INTERPRETED. 115 
 
 He said moreover, This is their resemblance 
 through all the earth. And, behold, there was 
 lifted up a talent of lead : and this is a woman 
 that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. And he 
 said. This is wickedness." Let us remember, 
 as we pass on, that the latter chapters of the 
 Apocalypse are full of the wickedness of Babylon, 
 personified, also, as a woman. Here, then, we 
 have her associated with the ephah measure, 
 the emblem of commerce (this, too, having its 
 counterpart in the Babylon of the Apocalypse). 
 The vision proceeds : — " And he cast it" (^. e. this 
 emblem of wickedness) " into the midst of the 
 ephah ; and he cast the weight of lead upon the 
 mouth thereof. Then lifted I up mine eyes, and 
 looked, and, behold, there came out two women, 
 and the wind was in their wings ; for they had 
 wings like the wings of a stork ; and they lifted 
 up the ephah between the earth and the heaven. 
 Then said I to the angel that talked with me. 
 Whither do these bear the ephah ? And he said 
 unto me. To build it an house in the land of 
 Shinar : and it shall be established, and set there 
 upon her own base."* Thus, in the land of 
 Shinar, the very site of Babylon of old,t will 
 wickedness have her seat ; and the Apocalypse 
 takes up the subject, and, with awful emphasis, 
 denominates the city: — "Mystery, Babylon 
 
 * Verses 5 — 11. h See Gen. x. 10. 
 
116 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. X. 1 11. 
 
 THE Great, the Mother of Harlots, and 
 Abominations of the Earth." Rev. xvii. 5. 
 The comparison need not be pursued beyond 
 this. It must be obvious to the reader, that 
 sufficient evidence has been produced for the 
 assigned relation of the little book before us to 
 the prophet Zechariah ; although, doubtless, other 
 Old Testament prophecies (those, for example, 
 in the beginning of Ezekiel, and the close of 
 Daniel) may, on examination, yield similar features 
 of comparison — the reason being that all prophecy, 
 whatever be the occasion, more or less, points- 
 onwards to the redemption of Israel and the 
 earth. 
 
 And it was in my mouth sweet as honey : and 
 as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitte7\] 
 Thus the experience of the Apostle was in 
 accordance with the Angel's announcement. 
 Perhaps it may be observed, as a further im- 
 provement of this point, that when the children 
 of God are of one mind with Him on any subject 
 revealed in His Word, the revelation will be 
 sweet to their taste or judgment, however bitter 
 it may be to their hearts, as realizing the woes 
 with which it may be pregnant. In like manner, 
 the occupation of bearing testimony against 
 others, according to the mind of God, while a 
 painful one in many- respects, may be yet accom- 
 panied with a spiritual enjoyment, arising out of 
 
CH. X. 1 11. J INIEIIPRETED. 117 
 
 sympathy with God, and appreciation of His 
 holiness. 
 
 Ver. 11. And he said unto me, Thou must 
 iwophesij again before many peoples, and 7iations, 
 and tongues, and kings ^ The Apostle's com- 
 mission, as given at the beginning of this Book, 
 specified only tlie seven Churches in Asia as 
 concerned in these prophecies, (see ch. i. 11.) 
 Noiv, it is communicated to him, that be must 
 exercise his prophetical office in connection with 
 another series of predictions which relate to a 
 combination of Gentile powers — doubtless, that 
 which will oppress the Jews in the latter day. 
 Against such organized host, not merely " before 
 them — and the original rather requires the former 
 translation — the forthcoming testimony of the 
 Apostle is to be directed. 
 
 . An extraodinary interpretation of this verse is 
 said to have obtained in the early Church, to the 
 effect that John would again appear upon the earth, 
 and renew his prophetic mission. And, by some it 
 was believed, that to this end, his reservation from 
 death was hinted at, by our blessed Lord, when to 
 the enquiry of Peter, " Lord, and what shall this 
 man do ?" — he replied, " If I will that he tarry 
 till I come, what is that to thee ?" But the whole 
 of this notion is a mistake. In the first place, the 
 verse before us intimates, not any future occu- 
 pation of John as a Prophet, but simply that he 
 
118 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 19. 
 
 was now to engage in the record of another series 
 of prophetic visions, in continuation with those 
 akeady rehearsed. And, secondly, though the 
 saying went abroad after our Lord's reply to 
 Peter, that John should not die ; yet it is carefully 
 stated, by the Holy Ghost, that the Lord Jesus 
 said not any such thing ; and the impression 
 can only be regarded as an illustration of the 
 corrupting effect of human tradition upon Divine 
 truth. The design of our Lord's words, was 
 obviously to rebuke Peter's undue inquisitiveness, 
 and not to indicate any purpose concerning 
 John. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Verses 1 — 19. 
 
 1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod : and the 
 angel stood, saying, Kise, and measure the temple of God, and 
 the altar, and them that worship therein. 
 
 2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and 
 measure it not ; for it is given unto the Gentiles : and the holy city 
 shall they tread under foot forty and two months. 
 
 3 And I will give poiver unto my two witnesses, and they shall 
 prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in 
 sackcloth. 
 
 4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks 
 standing before the God of the earth. 
 
CH. xi. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 119 
 
 5 And if any man will laurt tliem, fire proceedetli out of their 
 mouth, and devoureth their enemies : and if any man will hurt 
 them, he must in this manner be killed. 
 
 G These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days 
 of their prophecy : and have power over waters to turn them to 
 blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. 
 
 7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast 
 that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against 
 them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 
 
 8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the gi-eat city, 
 which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord 
 was crucified. 
 
 9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations 
 shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not 
 sufier their dead bodies to be put in gi-aves. 
 
 10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, 
 and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another ; because 
 these two prophets tormented tliem that dwelt on the earth. 
 
 11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God 
 entered into them, and they stood upon their feet ; and great fear 
 fell upon them which saw them. 
 
 12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them. 
 Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud ; 
 and their enemies beheld them. 
 
 1 3 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the 
 tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men 
 seven thousand : and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory 
 to the God of heaven. 
 
 14: The second woe is past ; and, behold, the third woe cometh 
 quickly. 
 
 15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great 
 voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become 
 the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ ; and he shall reign for 
 ever and ever. 
 
 l(j And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on 
 their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God. 
 
120 THE APOCALYPSE CH. xi. 1 — 19. 
 
 17 Saying, We give thee thanks, Lord God Almighty, which 
 art, and wast, and art to come ; because thou hast taken to thee 
 thy great power, and hast reigned. 
 
 18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the 
 time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou 
 shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the 
 saints, and them that fear thy name, small and gi-eat ; and 
 shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. 
 
 19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was 
 seen in his temple the ark of his testament : and there were 
 lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and 
 great hail. 
 
 The first thing presented to us in this chapter, 
 is an emblematical action enjoined upon the 
 Apostle, which introduces us to Jerusalem, and 
 its temple, as the scene of consummation of Jewish 
 woe. And with such a climax of suffering yet to 
 be undergone, we may look back at the preceding 
 proclamation of the Envoy-Angel, touching the 
 eventual deliverance of the chosen people, as 
 truly seasonable. Still, the final ordeal is to be 
 passed through, and now its leading features are 
 represented. The Antichristian hosts, strengthened 
 as we have seen, by diabolical aid, have become 
 masters of Jerusalem, after a protracted siege, 
 and a fearful slaughter has ensued.* This is the 
 juncture, probably, from which a considerable 
 body of the inhabitants forewarned, according 
 to our Lord's prophecy, by seeing the city 
 
 * See pages (55 — 68. 
 
CH. xi. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 121 
 
 surrounded by armies, will have escaped to tlie 
 mountains, or the wilderness, as it is here called * 
 Others of the devoted people will have been sent 
 into captivity: and a mere remnant (the third 
 part, it is submitted, mentioned in Zechariah) 
 will be left to combat for their faith, and their 
 allegiance to God, amidst the usurpers who, 
 henceforth, for the prescribed period, profane 
 the holy city. What their sufferings will be, 
 may be easily conceived, and they are somewhat 
 detailed in the loth chapter. But, they shall 
 not be left to contend against their enemies, 
 without unequivocal tokens of the Divine faith- 
 fulness and power, in their preservation, at least, 
 for a season, from all injury; and in the mira- 
 culous agency, at their head, of the two witnesses. 
 The enemy having come in as a flood, the Spirit 
 of the Lord shall thus lift up a standard against 
 them.f 
 
 Ver. 1. And there was given me a reed like 
 unto a 7^od.] Such was the appropriate symbol of 
 the office now about to be discharged by the 
 Apostle, rehearsing the scene of the Temple's 
 preservation and that of its worshippers, amidst 
 the occupation of the holy city, by Gentile 
 oppressors. Thus, we read in the prophet 
 Ezekiel, of a man "with a line of flax in his 
 hand, and a measuring reed^^ — the preliminary to 
 
 * See ch. xii. + Isaiah lix. 19. 
 
 VOL. II. 6. G 
 
122 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 19. 
 
 the following vision of tlie rebuilding of the 
 Jewish temple and city. Ezekiel xl. S, 5. In 
 Zechariah, we read, also, to the same effect: — 
 " I looked, and behold a man with a measuring 
 line in his hand. Then said I, Whither go est 
 thou ? and he said unto me, to measure Jerusalem, 
 to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is 
 the length thereof. And, behold, the angel that 
 talked with me went forth, and another angel 
 went out to meet him, and said unto him, run, 
 speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall 
 be inhabited as towns without walls, for the mul- 
 titude of men and cattle therein.'' Zechariah ii. 
 1—4. 
 
 And the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure 
 the temple of God, and the altar, a7id them that 
 worship therein?^ In this commission of the 
 angel, the term employed — measure, imports not 
 the rebuilding of the temple, &c., but, rather, its 
 preservation, under the terrible circumstances 
 presently related. This we gather from the way 
 in which the same terra is used in the verse 
 following, where the not measuring of the other 
 locality, which is excluded, manifestly denotes 
 its being left exposed to the violence of 
 enemies. In thi.^ sense, also, the same form of 
 speech occurs in the Old Testament, where 
 David's triumph over the Moabites is recorded : — 
 " And he smote Moab, and measured them with 
 
CH. xi. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 123 
 
 a line, casting tliem down to the ground : even 
 with two lines measured he to put to deaths and 
 with one full line to keep alive. ''^ 2 Sam. viii. 2. 
 Here it is plain that the giving quarter to a pro- 
 portion of the conquered people, is that which is 
 indicated by the application to them of the 
 measuring line. 
 
 As to the exact places, intended by " the 
 temple of God and the altar," it is to be observed 
 that, by the former expression, is usually denoted 
 the sanctuary itself, to the exclusion of the sacred 
 enclosures connected vv^ith it ; and, therefore, the 
 altar, or, altar court, (which is probably what 
 is meant) being one of these enclosures, is 
 additionally specified. The worshippers therein, 
 it cannot be doubted, are Jews, — a faithful 
 remnant of that body of the nation who may be 
 expected, ere long, to return to their land. This 
 remnant, it would appear, after the apostacy of 
 their fellows, under the delusions of the Anti- 
 christ, will continue faithful to the worship of the 
 true God ; thus conforming, as they may be able, 
 to the Divine admonition : — " Remember ye the 
 law of Moses, my servant, which I commanded 
 unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes 
 and judgments." Malachi iv. 4. 
 
 It is commonly said, indeed, that the Jaw of 
 Moses has been finally abrogated, and tliat the 
 observance of its ordinances can never again be 
 g2 
 
124 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 19. 
 
 acceptable to God. But, besides that, this notion 
 is obviously incompatible with the plain import 
 of such predictions as this under consideration, 
 it really has no ground to rest upon, in the 
 teaching of the word of God, elsewhere. 
 
 " The law and the pi'ophets," indeed, as our 
 Lord says, "were until John."* They involved 
 the reception of John's ministry; and that ushered 
 the way, as Elijah's ministry will more effectually 
 do, in the latter days, into Messiah's promised 
 kingdom, as the consummation to which all have 
 reference. And the purport of all is alike dis- 
 regarded where submission to Messiah as *' the 
 end of the law for righteousness" is not found. 
 Accordingly, when Messiah came and presented 
 himself to the Jews, their fault, as led on by the 
 Scribes and Pharisees, was, that whilst their 
 obedience to the law was altogether defective, 
 they yet rejected Him to whom it was framed to 
 bear testimony. 
 
 Still, amidst all the nation's blindness on this 
 subject, the ordinances of the law, and the temple 
 worship, were respected by our Lord. And, 
 even after His crucifixion, when the vail of the 
 temple was rent in twain (from which some have 
 hastily concluded that all Jewish worship was 
 henceforth disannulled) the Apostles, under the 
 guidance of the promised Comforter, the Holy 
 
 * Luke xvi. 16. 
 
CH. xi. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 125 
 
 Gliost, were wont to repair to the temple to 
 engage in public worship. Thus, it is recorded 
 that " Peter and John went up together into the 
 temple at the hour of prayer." Acts iii. 1. And 
 similarly, of the whole company of believers in 
 Jerusalem, it is said, that " they continued daily 
 with one accord in the temple." Acts ii. 46. 
 And, when Paul went up to Jerusalem, he so far 
 countenanced the temple worship as to associate 
 himself with four Jewish converts, who had a 
 vow, and offered with them the prescribed sacri- 
 fices. Acts xxi. IT — 26. 
 
 All this — and other considerations might be 
 adduced — is scarcely compatible with the view of 
 the Mosaic law being abrogated. The observances 
 of it, for the most part, have been, indeed, inter- 
 rupted, we may say, indirectly prohibited ever 
 since Jerusalem, the enjoined place of its solem- 
 nities, has become desolate. They were thus 
 prohibited during the time of the captivity in 
 Babylon. But if, as has been already submitted 
 in this work, the present dispensation, as God's 
 parenthesis in his dealings with the Jews, is (we 
 know not how soon) to be taken out of the way, 
 by the translation of the Church ; what forbids it 
 that the religious observances of that people, once 
 more in possession of their land, should link on 
 with those of a former generation, and be, in like 
 manner, tolerated by God, until all things that 
 
126 THE APOCALYPSE CH. xi. 1 19. 
 
 are written be fulfilled ? This toleration may be, 
 as perhaps was the case at the period already- 
 noticed, subsequent to the first advent, because of 
 a little band of elect ones recognized by God as 
 exercising spiritual discernment upon the cere- 
 monial ritual. But whatever the reason, the fact 
 is clear that there will be yet again, in Jerusalem, 
 an acceptable observance of such ritual, and with 
 the precedent of the past, it should not stumble 
 the unprejudiced Christian. 
 
 'The whole question of how far the obligation 
 of the Mosaic law upon the Jew, still survives, may 
 require, to some, further elucidation. But, as it is 
 only collateral to the vision before us, it might be 
 out of place to enlarge on it here. Still the remarks 
 which have been made, brief as they are, may 
 serve to disabuse the reader's mind, of the common 
 mistake that Jewish worship, as such, is altogether 
 effete, and can never again be sanctioned by God. 
 
 Perhaps it may be well to add, in reference to 
 the popular interpretation of " the Temple," in 
 this vision, as standing for the Christian Church, 
 that in no place, in the New Testament, is the 
 word used with the article, as here, in such 
 figurative sense. Without the article, it is some- 
 times used both to denote the individual believer 
 and the Church at large. But with the article, is 
 ever defined the literal material building. And 
 this is the method of discrimination observed by the 
 
CH. xi, 1 19] INTERPRETED. 127 
 
 Spirit, when both ideas occur in the same sentence, 
 as in the third chapter of the first of Corinthians. 
 It is to be lamented, that our translation obscures 
 this point. But the strict reading of the original 
 is as follows : — " Know ye not that ye are a 
 temple of God, and that the Spirit of Goddwelleth 
 in you." Then, reasoning from the case of the 
 literal edifice. — '^ If any man defile the Temple of 
 God, him shall God destroy ; for the Temple of 
 
 God \s]lo\j,ofivhich sort areyey {oinves eare v/aeis.^* 
 
 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17. Thus, also, it is at once deter- 
 mined that ^' the Temple of God," in which the man 
 of sin is to sit, according to 2 Thess. ii. 4, is the 
 literal Temple of Jerusalem; for the article is 
 there employed, f And the same Temple, it is 
 submitted, is alluded to, in this vision of the 
 Apocalypse, as being to be preserved for a time, 
 notwithstanding all opposition. 
 
 Ver. 2. But the court which is without the 
 temple, leave out and measure it not.] The court 
 here alluded to, would seem to be the outer and 
 larger court, which compassed the whole sacred 
 building, beyond which no uncircumcised Gentile 
 or unsanctified Jew might lawfully proceed. And 
 its being left out, in the measurement enjoined 
 upon the Apostle, (cast out, as it is in the margin 
 — exposed to violence and profanation) probably 
 denotes, that from the immunity to be experienced 
 * See also i Cor. vi. 19. f roy vaov tov Qeov. 
 
128 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. Xl. 1 19. 
 
 by the faithful remnant of true worshippers, at 
 whose head stand the two witnesses, all others 
 should be excluded, and thus left subject to 
 the cruelty of the Antichristian occupants of 
 the city. 
 
 For it is given unto the Gentiles^ Here is the 
 reason for the prohibited measurement just noticed. 
 See Dan. vii. 25. 
 
 And the holy city.] That is Jerusalem which 
 is thus denominated throughout the Scriptures. 
 See Neh. xi. 1, 18; Is. xlviii. 2; lii, 1 ; Dan. ix. 
 24 ; Matt. iv. 5 ; xxvii. 53. 
 
 Shall they tread under foot.] This is, doubtless, 
 the treading which is alluded to in the 21st of 
 Luke ; where our Lord says: '^ Jerusalem shall be 
 trodden down by the Gentiles, till the times of the 
 Gentiles be fulfilled." Luke xxi.24. This remark- 
 able prophecy lighted, we may consider, upon what 
 happened at Jerusalem, when it was besieged by the 
 Romans, as a proximate, though imperfect, fulfil- 
 ment; but it manifestly passes onwards beyond that 
 event ; and so its details easily adjust themselves 
 to the future crisis, which is rehearsed in the 
 Apocalypse. For example, Jerusalem being com- 
 passed with armies, some of the inhabitants 
 fleeing to the mountains, others being put to the 
 sword, and another portion of them being- 
 consigned to captivity — these features of our 
 Lord's Prophecy seem to have their full counter- 
 
CH. xi. 1 19.J IXTERPilETED. 129 
 
 part only in the scene now before us, wherein 
 Antichrist comes against Jerusalem, slaughters 
 many of its inhabitants, and, as Jehovah's scourge, 
 at length triumphs over all opposition until his 
 own destiny arrives. 
 
 It is to be observed, however, that neither in 
 this vision, nor in our Lord's prophecy, in the 
 Gospel, does the word which is employed signify 
 that Jerusalem is to be trodden doion or trodden 
 under foot, by the Antichristian hosts, in the 
 sense of their reducing it to a state of ruin. It 
 simply means that they shall tread it as having 
 become its masters. The same word occurs in 
 the Septuagint translation of Isaiah, i. 12. " Who 
 hath required this at your hand, to tread my 
 courts?" And the idea is obvious, — that of 
 frequenting the courts of the temple for the 
 ostensible purpose of worship. 
 
 Forty and two months^ Such will be the 
 duration of Gentile domination in the Holy City, 
 that is, three years and a half, denominated by 
 our Lord, " the times of the Gentiles," (Luke 
 xxi. 24,) the same it is submitted, which in the 
 Prophet Daniel,* pointing to the same crisis, is 
 thus recited in equivalent terms : " And he shall 
 speak great words against the Most High, and 
 shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and 
 think to change times and laws : And they shall 
 * Dan. vii. 25. 
 
 g3 
 
130 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 19. 
 
 be given into his hand until a time and times and 
 the dividing of time.''^ That, a time, with Daniel, 
 denotes a year, — certainly, not three hundred and 
 sixty years, which popular commentators assume, 
 is, at once, collected, beyond reasonable doubt, 
 from the use of the term in the sentence upon 
 Nebuchadnezzar, " let seven times pass over him." 
 Dan. iv. 16. For, Nebuchadnezzar lived to see 
 the end of the period in question, and was restored 
 to his kingdom. It may be, also, that this period 
 is intended to answer to the half week or heb- 
 domad of Daniel mentioned in his ninth chapter, * 
 during which, the Antichrist having broken his 
 covenant with the Jews, and thrown off the mask, 
 will rage with open violence — the consummation 
 of the Divine retort upon the apostate people, 
 for their rejection, during the same time, of the true 
 Messiah, the meek and lowly Jesus. f 
 
 A7id I will give power unto my two witnesses.] 
 It is worthy of notice, that the word here rendered 
 witnesses, although frequently occurring in the 
 New Testament, is never employed to represent 
 other than definite persons ; so that we are at 
 once spared the trouble of examining into the 
 allegations that some writers have urged, as to 
 these witnesses being collective bodies of men, or 
 the two volumes of Scripture, the Old and New 
 Testaments, or the two sacraments, &c. 
 
 * Verse xxvii. t John v. 43. 
 
CH. XI. 1 19J INTERPRETED. 1^1 
 
 The simple truth is, they are two eminent 
 servants of God, Jewish saints, who, at this time of 
 calamity to their brethren and their land, will be 
 raised up to glorify God. Or, they shall have 
 been executing their office before, only now they 
 are specially endowed from above to meet this 
 appalling crisis. In conjunction with the little 
 company of faithful ones associated with them 
 under their, leadership, they will constitute a 
 hallowed band, who, amidst unblushing blasphemy 
 and infidelity, will confess Jehovah, the God of 
 their Fathers ; testifying, also, to the speedy 
 interposition of Messiah, the King that will rule 
 in righteousness. 
 
 Their number two, may be intended to harmonize 
 with the Divine requirement : " At the mouth of 
 
 two -witnesses shall the matter be established." 
 
 Detit. xix. 15. Nor is it to be overlooked, that 
 such two-fold agency is that which has been 
 employed by God on former occasions, in the 
 history of Israel. For example, Moses and Aaron, 
 in the Exodus from Egypt; Elijah and Elisha, in 
 the idolatrous reign of Ahab ; and Joshua and 
 Zerubbabel, already referred to, after the return 
 from the Babylonish captivity. 
 
 To suppose, as many do, that these witnesses 
 are saints, who, having in former ages disappeared 
 from the earthy either by death, like Moses and 
 Elisha ; or, by rapture to heaven, like Enoch 
 
1'32 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 19. 
 
 and Elijah, — now again resume their place of 
 testimony, is quite an unnecessary embarrassment 
 of the subject. Such illustrious servants of God, 
 with the character of their respective miracles 
 which they wrought, may well, indeed, be regarded 
 as typically rehearsing the career of their suc- 
 cessors yet to arise ; but absolutely to identify the 
 parties seems unwarranted. That Elijah will 
 again appear, to discharge important functions 
 amongst his people, organizing and preparing 
 them for the glorious advent of their Lord, is not 
 to be questioned; but his mission need not be 
 confounded with that of the " two witnesses." 
 On the contrary, a distinctness seems to appertain 
 to it. The circumstance, moreover, of his being a 
 glorified saint, appears incompatible with the issue 
 of death which yet the witnesses are to undergo. 
 
 As to the authority here assumed by the 
 Speaker, in the vision, calling the witnesses, 
 " my witnesses" — and saying, " /will give them 
 power," &c. albeit, in this interpretation, he has 
 been referred only to the rank of creature-hood ; 
 the aspect of anomaly, it is submitted, ceases with 
 the recollection that he yet acts as a special envoy 
 of Christ ; and it is but in keeping with this, that 
 he should speak in the name of his Divine Lord 
 
 And they shall prophesy ?[ Here is defined the 
 ofiice which these servants of God shall perform. 
 They will doubtless, be like their predecessors of 
 
CH.xi. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 133 
 
 the Old Testament, warning and encouraging 
 their brethren around them, as the case may- 
 require; and denouncing the judgments of Jehovah 
 upon the ranks of the ungodly, and their arrogant 
 leader. (See 1 Kings xviii. 31 — 38.) Thus, also, 
 they will fulfil the definition of prophesying in 
 the New Testament — speaking to edification and 
 exhortation and comfort, 1 Cor. xiv. 3. This action 
 of prophesying, be it also observed, is never once 
 predicated in the Scriptures, except of personal 
 agents. 
 
 A thousand two hundred and threescore days?\ 
 For so long, are they appointed to confront, by 
 their testimony, the Antichristian hosts. The 
 period is parallel to that of the just recited 
 usurpation of the latter. Not that such usurpation 
 actually closes with the witnesses' testimony ; but 
 that, hereupon, the Divine wrath reserved to 
 descend upon the usurpers is no longer suspended, 
 but let loose for the purpose of retribution. In 
 fact, the successful onslaught of the Beast, the 
 Antichrist, at the end of the period in question, 
 becomes the signal for the outpouring, on him and 
 his confederates, of the vial plagues. It is 
 observable, however, that although the Antichrist's 
 domination, and the witnesses' prophesying, are 
 thus synchronous, the time is expressed in months, 
 in the one case;. in days in the other. Possibly, 
 the variation, in the latter case, is designed to 
 indicate that the occupation of the witnesses, in the 
 
134 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. xi. 1 19. 
 
 service of their Master, is daily and unintermitting; 
 and that God takes cognizance of it accordingly. 
 
 Into the question, as to whether a day in 
 Prophecy, does not mean a year, the Author is 
 not disposed again to lead his readers. It has 
 been already discussed, and negatived in the 
 preceding volume of this work.* But it appears 
 a plausible argument has been advanced from 
 Luke xiii. 31 — 33, upon which it may be well to 
 bestow a passing notice. 
 
 When our Lord was in Galilee, — the district 
 over which Herod presided, — the Pharisees ad- 
 dressed to Him the intimidating taunt: " Get 
 thee out, and depart hence, for Herod will kill 
 thee." To this, our Lord replied : " Go ye and 
 tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do 
 cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I 
 shall be perfected." Here it is affirmed,! that our 
 Lord alludes to the period of his ministry, deno- 
 minating each year a day. But, pausing for 
 reflection, we at once perceive a discordance to 
 this position, in the fact, that our Lord's ministry 
 occupied not three years merely, but three years 
 and a half. And, again, according to the admis- 
 sion of all Harmonists, these words were uttered 
 by our Lord, not at the beginning of His ministry, 
 but after more than two years had transpired ; so 
 
 * See Vol. I., pp. 109, 110. 
 + Elements of Prophecy, by Rev. T. E. Birks. See also Fleming; 
 ©11 the Apocalypse. 
 
CH. xi. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 135 
 
 that if this were the subject contemplated, the 
 reference to it would be, chiefly, in the j(;a5^ tense, 
 whereas our Lord speaks only of the present, 
 and the future — to-day, to-morrow, and the day 
 following. Indeed, the truth seems to be, judging 
 from the context, that our Lord spoke literally; 
 and accordingly that on the third day he entered 
 Jerusalem, the place of his passion, where he 
 was presently " perfected." For, continuing his 
 reply to the Pharisees, He adds (verse 33,) 
 " Nevertheless, I must walk {i. e. journey) to-day, 
 and to-morrow, and the day following : for it 
 cannot he that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem'^ 
 To the appeal to His fear, " Get thee out" 
 {i. e. from Galilee, the sphere of Herod's juris- 
 diction) " for Herod will kill thee," our Lord had 
 bid defiance, saying how long his immunity from 
 violence was to last. But if his reply had closed 
 there, it might imply that Galilee would continue 
 to be the scene of his ministry for three days 
 longer; therefore the qualification follows, that 
 notwithstanding, he was and would be for the 
 interval in question, quite safe from the machi- 
 nations of Herod, yet for another reason he would 
 have to pursue his journey onwards to Jerusalem. 
 And what confirms this interpretation is, that the 
 passage is immediately succeeded in the record 
 of the Evangelist, by the lamentation of our Lord 
 over Jerusalem ; which, according to Matthew, 
 
136 TliE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 — 19. 
 
 was uttered in the temple, after the Lord had 
 entered the city. (Compare Luke xiii. Si, 35, 
 with*; Matt, xxiii. 37—39.) 
 
 But, on the other hand, let it be supposed, for 
 a moment, according to the theory in question, 
 that years are denoted by days in this passage ; 
 and how perplexing it renders other parts of the 
 sacred narrative ! For example, when our Lord 
 spoke of His being to be crucified and to rise 
 again the third day, He ought to have been 
 apprehended as referring to three years as the 
 period of his sepulture! Such is the confusion 
 which this notion would introduce into our appre- 
 hension of the plainest matters. 
 
 Clothed in sackcloth^ It was a Jewish custom, 
 on the occasion of any calamity, private or public, 
 to wear sackcloth as the mourning habit. Thus 
 we read, of Ahab, when the Divine judgment was 
 pronounced against him, in the matter of Naboth, 
 That " he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth 
 upon his flesh, . . . and lay in sackcloth." 
 1 Kings xxi. 27. 
 
 When Mordecai, also, was apprized of the 
 ruin that threatened his nation, " he put on 
 sackcloth." Esther iv. 1. See, also, Job xvi. 15; 
 % Kings xix. 1, 2 ; 1 Chr. xxi. 16. Even Gentiles, 
 after this manner, indicated their grief. See 
 Jonah iii. 5, 6, But the Prophets, especially, 
 were wont to assume this clothing, because of the 
 
CH. xi. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 137 
 
 heavy burdens tliey had to pronounce upon the 
 sins of their people, (see Is. xx. 2.) Here, 
 accordingly, in the case of the two witnesses, 
 mourning apparel is adopted by them, corres- 
 ponding with the distressing circumstances now 
 affecting their nation, and the judgments they are 
 commissioned to inflict. It may be, because of 
 this, that the same apparel will be adopted by 
 False Prophets, who, we have reason to believe, 
 will abound, at this time, in Jerusalem. For, in 
 Zechariah, we read amongst other features of the 
 happy future, that such parties shall not wear 
 " a rough garment* to deceive." Zee. xiii. 4. 
 
 These are the two olive trees and the two 
 candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.'\ 
 This identification of the two witnesses, with the 
 vision in the Prophet Zechariah, is doubtless 
 because of their being the Antitypes of Joshua, 
 and Zerubbabel, who are therein represented, it 
 would seem, under this very emblem of two olive 
 trees, as ministering Divine grace to the returned 
 Jewish remnant, symbolized by the candlestick. 
 Their successors in the coming day of the Lord 
 (the two witnesses) will have similar functions 
 committed to them, touching their persecuted 
 brethren. In one particular feature, indeed, as 
 already observed,! there seems to be a failure of 
 
 * '* Garment of hair" is the marginal reading. 
 + See page 114:. 
 
138 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 — 19. 
 
 coincidence between the visions, the correlative 
 symbol of the two olive trees, being in the one 
 case, simply a candlestick, in tlie other two 
 candlesticks. But this variation admits of easy 
 solution. In Zechariah, let us remember, the 
 position of the two olive trees is carefully marked, 
 as being at either side of the candlestick, one at 
 the right hand, the other at the left ; the import 
 being, that God's servants in question, had both 
 of them to do with the communication of succour 
 to the distressed remnant, to qualify them for the 
 work of testimony. 
 
 Here in the Apocalypse, however, the symbol 
 of the candlestick had not been mentioned ; but 
 that which it imported is introduced directly and 
 at once, namely, the company of worshippers 
 preserved by God amidst their enemies; and the 
 witnesses are associated with them. Nor is it tiU 
 the latter come to have the relationship assigned 
 to them, of the two olive trees in Zechariah's 
 vision, that any candlestick is referred to. And 
 now, when this is at length being done, instead 
 of saying with the Prophet, that their position 
 was at either side of the candlestick, the Spirit 
 conveys the same truth of their combined connec- 
 tion with the suffering remnant, by assigning a 
 candlestick to each. 
 
 Ver. 5. And if any man will hurt them.] The 
 not here the sign of a tense, 
 
CH. xi. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 139 
 
 belonging to " hurt," but a separate verb. The 
 meaning is, if any man wills to hurt them. Just as 
 in our Lord's words. Matt. xvi. 24 : " If any 
 man will come after me," the strict rendering is 
 wills to come after me. 
 
 Fire proceedeth out of their inoutli, and devour eth 
 their enemies.'] That is, at their word the judg- 
 ment comes. Thus EHjah by his prayer, brought 
 down fire from heaven, to consume those who 
 were sent to seize upon him — the captains and 
 their fifties. (2 Kings i. 10 — 12. See also Jer. v. 14. 
 Num. xvi. 35.) 
 
 We are not of course, to suppose, that fire 
 actually issues from the mouths of the witnesses i 
 nor does literality of interpretation require this, 
 any more than when we read of the Lord Jesus 
 having a sword proceeding out of his mouth,* 
 we are required to beheve in the projection of a 
 material sword, from his sacred Person. The fact 
 is, the same simple interpretation holds here ; by 
 the word of his mouth. He will cause his enemies 
 to be slain ; just as we read in Isaiah : " with the 
 breath of his lips he will slay the wicked." Isa. 
 xi. 4. He will give its commission to the material 
 sword, and the work of vengeance shall be done. 
 Such is the truth obviously intended. 
 
 And if any man loill hurt them.] The means 
 of avenging themselves which the witnesses 
 * Rev. xix. 21. 
 
140 THE APOCALYPSE [CK, xi. 1 — 19 
 
 possess, having been rehearsed, the supposition 
 of an assaihmt is again emphatically put — a 
 repetition of the former clause. 
 
 He must in this manner he killed^ Thus any 
 attempt to injure the witnesses is ordained to 
 prove fatal to the aggressor. And, no doubt, by 
 the Antichristian host, now masters of Jerusalem , 
 many onsets will have been made against them, 
 whereby such penalty shall be incurred ; until at 
 length, consulting for their own safety we can 
 conceive their adversaries to desist for a time from 
 a renewal of their attacks. 
 
 Ver. 6. These have power to shut heaven, that it 
 rain not in the days of their prophecy^ Such is the 
 further Divine sanction of the witnesses' mission. 
 During the period of their ministry, that is the 
 fore-named twelve hundred and sixty days, they 
 will have power (which it is implied also they 
 will exercise) to inflict the visitation of drouo^ht. 
 And it is worthy of notice, that the same sort of 
 visitation, and for the same duration, is on record, 
 as having been inflicted upon Israel by the 
 Prophet Elijah. (1 Kings xvii. 1.) Our Lord also 
 alludes to it in the New Testament;* and we have 
 another reference to it in the Epistle of James. 
 We read there : — " Elias was a man subject to 
 like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly 
 that it might not rain ; and it rained not on the 
 
 * Luke iv. 25. 
 
CU.xi 1 — 19.] INTERPRETED. 141 
 
 earth by the space of three years and six months." 
 Jas V. 17. 
 
 With this precedent, how strange for Expositors 
 to maintain that, not a literal, but " a spiritual 
 drougJit must he intendedV^ * 
 
 And have potver over loaters to turn them to 
 blood and to smite the earth with all plagues as 
 often as they will.] Here we are reminded of the 
 actings of other types of these witnesses, even 
 Moses, and Aaron, who wrought judgments 
 after this manner in Egypt. See Ex. vii. 20. 
 Ps. cv. 29. 
 
 Ey ''the earth," in this verse, — the land i. e. 
 of Palestine may be signified, the word in the 
 original is equivocal. 
 
 Ver. T. And when they shall have finished their 
 testimony^ It is literally, when they shall be 
 about to finish their testimony ; that is, just as the 
 twelve hundred and sixty days allotted to them 
 for their testimony, are coming to a close. 
 
 The heast that ascendeth out of the bottomless 
 pit.] This is evidently, the Antichrist whose 
 career is given under this very description in a 
 subsequent chapter, which need not be anticipated 
 here. Suffice it to say, for the present, he ascends 
 from the pit of the abyss, which, as we have seen, 
 is liot only the place of incarcerated fiends, but 
 is in some way connected with Hades. f At the 
 * Horae Apocalj-pticae. t See page 54. 
 
142 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1—19. 
 
 time contemplated in this vision, he seems to be 
 at the head of the congregated nations, and of 
 those mysterious hosts recited in the nintli 
 chapter, which have come up against Jerusalem. 
 
 Shall make tear against them, and shall over- 
 come them, and shall hill them.'\ No doubt, he 
 vrill have been intent upon their destruction all 
 along. But until the work of these servants of God 
 shall be done, they will prove immortal. 
 
 Ver. 8. A7id their dead bodies shall lie in the 
 street of the great city, which spiritually is called 
 Sodom and Egypt, tohere also our Lord teas 
 crucified^ This public exposure of the corpses 
 of the witnesses, will attest the hatred of which 
 they will have been the objects. It is a measure of 
 impotent malice, which has often been resorted to 
 by those who are relentless towards their victims. 
 There is little doubt that the 79th Psalm points, 
 in its lamentation, to this very spectacle, '* O God, 
 the heathen are come into thine inheritance ; thy 
 holy temple have they defiled; they have laid 
 Jerusalem on heaps. The dead bodies of thy 
 servants have they given to be meat unto the 
 fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto 
 the beasts of the earth. Their blood have they 
 shed like water round about Jerusalem ; and there 
 was none to bury them." Ps. Ixxix. 1 — 3. 
 
 The city where this exposure is to take place, is 
 manifestly that of Jerusalem. That it is not here 
 
CH. xi. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 14-3 
 
 called the Iwlij city, may be, because of the last 
 remahiiiig- testimony to God in it, being now 
 destroyed, and blasphemy triumphing without con- 
 trol. But though the term, which is used instead, 
 ^' great"'' is otherwise applied in this book, for instance 
 to Babylon, yet its application to Jerusalem is not 
 without precedent, as may be seen from the book 
 of Nehemiah, in which the appointment of the 
 different watches over Jerusalem, is followed by 
 this clause : " Now, the city was large and great^^ 
 Xeh. vii. 4. And such description, be it observed, 
 is attached to the city, not in its pristime integrity, 
 but after its imperfect restoration upon the return 
 of Judah from their captivity in Babylon. 
 
 But, we are not left even to this conjecture, 
 with the decisive indications of its truth furnished 
 by the whole context. A clause is annexed, 
 whereby the identification contended for is put 
 beyond doubt — " ivhich is spiritaally called 
 Sodom and Egypt.^^ Here is allusion to the 
 Spirit's, denomination of Jerusalem, by the 
 Prophets of the Old Testament; and in Isaiah 
 and Ezekiel, we see Sodom and Egyj)t, the one 
 by name, the other by character, both cited as 
 exemplars of the degenerate place where God 
 had once put his name. (See Isaiah i. 1, 9, 10; 
 Ezek. xvi. 
 
 But further we read : " loJiere also our Lord 
 was crucified.''^ What other place than Jerusalem 
 
144 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 19. 
 
 can this mean? One is really lost in amazement 
 at the fact, that good men, who have written 
 on this subject, can controvert a position so 
 emphatically affirmed by the Spirit of God ! 
 Perhaps no example could be adduced to illustrate 
 more forcibly the blinding influence of pre-con- 
 ceived system on the human mind. 
 
 But the place of exposure in question is still 
 further defined as being in the street of the great 
 city. This denotes, doubtless, that part of the 
 city where there w411 be most resort. And it 
 would appear that in ancient towns, at least 
 among the Jews, such locality was generally 
 found near the gate. Thus we read in the book 
 of Proverbs of " the chief place of concourse in 
 the opening of the gates." Prov. i. 21. And such 
 was the area, probably, where, on the invasion of 
 Sennacherib, King Hezekiah reviewed, as it were, 
 his defensive forces, according to the account in 
 the book of Chronicles : " And he set captains of 
 war over the people, and gathered them together 
 to him in the street of the gate of the cityr 
 2 Chron. xxxii. 6. See also Jer. v. where the 
 broad places of Jerusalem are expressed in the 
 Septuagint, by the same greek word (7rXare««) 
 which is here used for street. 
 
 Ver. 9. And they of the people and kindreds and 
 tongues and nations.] These are the assembled 
 bands under the Antichrist, who had invaded and 
 
CH. xi. 1 — 19.] INTERPRETED. 145 
 
 become masters of the city. As obsequious subjects 
 they now crowd to behold the trophies of their 
 great Leader's victory. 
 
 Shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, 
 and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in 
 graves.] How easy to conceive literally the scene 
 thus depicted to us, when we call to mind that 
 after this very manner is recorded, the judgment 
 that befel the disobedient Prophet of old : " Behold 
 men passed by and saw the carcase (of the 
 Prophet) cast in the ivay.^^ 1 Kings xiii. Thus the 
 incidental facts of Scripture history help ns to 
 interpret these visions of the future, and urge on 
 US to discard the ingenious and fanciful ex]3la- 
 nations of allegorical writers. 
 
 But this seeing of the dead bodies of the 
 witnesses imports more than mere observation on 
 the part of their enemies. It seems to imply 
 further, that the latter will feast their eyes upon 
 the sight, taking complacency in it. And for three 
 days and an half will they enjoy the barbarous 
 exhibition, filiii^ past it, as we can conceive, in 
 their appointed ranks ; during which period every 
 approach to perform the last sad offices of 
 humanity will be watched and sternly repidsed. 
 So that, like dung upon the face of the earth, will 
 the bodies of these servants of God be doomed to 
 lie. But the triumphing of the wicked shall be 
 short, as the next verse proceeds to relate. 
 
 VOL. II. 7. H 
 
146 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. xi. 1 19. 
 
 Ver. 19. And they that dwell upon the eartJi.'] 
 That is, the occupants of the land, as it may be 
 translated, (Palestine), though it may be that as the 
 intelligence spreads, the inhabitants of the earth, 
 at large, will join in the same demonstration. 
 
 Shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and 
 shall send gifts one to another.'] Thus, the martyr- 
 dom of the witnesses, will be the occasion of 
 universal festivity amongst their enemies ; just as 
 we read, the humiliation of Samson, blinded and 
 enslaved in the hands of the Philistines, was the 
 signal for the indulgence of their unhallowed 
 mirth : — " Then the lords of the Philistines 
 gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice 
 unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice : for they 
 said, our god hath delivered Samson our enemy 
 into our hand. And when the people saw him, 
 they praised their god: for they said, our god 
 hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the 
 destroyer of our country, which slew many of us." 
 Judges xvi. 23, M. 
 
 After this manner, we can conceive, will the 
 great Antichristian confederacy exult over the 
 fall of the witnesses ; and regarding it as the 
 exploit of their now irresistible leader, no doubt 
 they will render him their idolatrous homage. 
 The mode whereby they will manifest their 
 exuoerant joy, sending gifts one to another, 
 corresponds with the usage of former times as 
 
Cri. xi. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 147 
 
 recorded in Scripture. Thus, it is said of the 
 Jews in the reign of Ahasuerus that when they 
 escaped from the murderous plot of Haman, they 
 made the day appointed for their destruction 
 " a day of gladness and feasting : and of sending 
 portions one to another." Esther ix. 19. See also 
 Neh. viii. 10, 12. And, even now, it is reported 
 by travellers that this interchange of presents on 
 occasions of joy, prevails in the East. 
 
 Because these two prophets tormented ther/i that 
 dwelt on the earth ^ Here is the reason for the 
 foregoing revelry, on the death of the witnesses, 
 which will prevail amongst mankind; at least, 
 among the inhabitants of Palestine, — the region 
 specially concerned. They will have been tor- 
 mented by the strokes of judgment inflicted on 
 them, from time to time, by these servants of God. 
 In this way, Elijah of old, their type, was obnoxious 
 to Ahab, and was denominated, by him, " the 
 trouUer of Israel.'^ And thus it is that wherever 
 there is a faithful, seasonable, testimony lifted up 
 by the Church of God now, against the sin of the 
 world, the world is thereby provoked, and its 
 resentment exhibited. As an old writer expresses 
 it, the truth is *' like salt unto the sores of the 
 wicked, whichbiteth and vexeth them ^^ Or, according 
 to Scripture language they love darkness rather 
 than light, because their deeds are evil;* and so 
 
 * Joliu iii. ] 9. 
 
 h2 
 
148 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 19. 
 
 they who shed light upon them are counted and 
 treated as then' enemies. Thus, it was with the 
 Lord Jesus, in His own experience ; and so it 
 must be in measure with every faithful disciple. 
 
 Alas ! that for the poor world's sake, to rouse it 
 from its insensibility, there should be so little of 
 this pungent testimony at the present day. Surely, 
 it is because of its absence, that forebearance is 
 shewn to religion by the ranks of worldly men 
 around us. The old cast off skins of the serpent 
 are, perhaps, pierced from time to time with much 
 precision ; but his present evil agency, whereby 
 he is now, as it were, lubricating society ere he 
 makes it his prey, is comparatively untouched. 
 There are few witnesses to God whom the world 
 needs to entreat, as Israel's wicked king did the 
 faithful Micaiah, — " Let thy word, I pray thee, be 
 like the word of one of them, and speak that 
 which is good ;"* for, " smooth things" are abund- 
 antly spoken, and the world is well pleased to 
 have it so, and to retain the church as a useful 
 ally for its own purposes. 
 
 Ver. 11. And after three days and an half the 
 Spirit of life from God, entered into them.] With 
 the fact, in contemplation, of our blessed Lord's 
 resurrection, after nearly the same interval, how 
 natural to interpret this language as indicating 
 the same literal resurrection of the witnesses. As 
 
 * 1 Kings xxii. 13. 
 
CIl. xi. 1 19.J INTERPRETED. 149 
 
 living men tliey had been animated by '' the spirit 
 of life."* When put to death, that spirit had 
 " returned to God who gave it."t And, now, 
 from God, it " enters into them again." What 
 more circumstantial detail of the process of 
 reanimation could be given ? But the description 
 is more minute still : — 
 
 And they stood upon their feet.] This again 
 corresponds with the recital in the Old Testament 
 of a literal return to life. For it is thus recorded 
 concerning the corpse that was being deposited in 
 the sepulchre of Elisha, that, " when the man was 
 let down, and touched the bones of Elisha," he 
 not only "revived," but '' stood ztp o?i his feet.'' 
 2 Kings xiii. 20, 21. 
 
 And, now, let us pause and see if — of this 
 remarkable event, analogous to our Lord's own 
 resurrection — we have not a prophetic notice in 
 the prophet Isaiah, chap. xxvi. At the ITth 
 verse Ave have the Jewish remnant lamentins' 
 their utter disappointment in regard to the 
 realization of the promised hope of their nation : — 
 ^' Like as a woman with child, that draweth near 
 the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out 
 in her pangs ; so have we been in thy sight, O 
 Lord. We have been with child, we have been in 
 pain, we have as it were brought forth wind ; we 
 
 * Geu. vii. 22. 
 
 + Just as it is said of Jairus' daughter, " her spirit came again." 
 Luke viii. 55, 
 
150 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. xi. 1 19. 
 
 have not wrought any deliverance in the earth ; 
 neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen." 
 This last clause, according to Bishop Horsley, 
 would be better rendered " The land is not made 
 (a place of) security, nor are the inhabitants of the 
 world about to fall.'' ^ Such we can easily imagine 
 to be the thoughts of the faithful ones in Jerusalem, 
 domineered over by the Gentiles ; especially, as 
 they contemplate the death and ignominous treat- 
 ment of the two Witnesses, who will have been at 
 their head. But how does the Lord reply to this 
 complaint ? Just in accordance with His design, 
 as we see it detailed in the issue before us: — "Thy 
 dead men shall live, together with my dead body 
 shall they arise ;" language which quite fits the 
 event of the resurrection of the witnesses, after 
 the manner of our Lord's own resurrection. But 
 allowing, as is maintained, that all the ancient 
 versions have the term body plural, that is, bodies^ 
 and that the ellipsis supplied by our translators is 
 uncalled for; even then, the allusion to the witnesses 
 is no less striking, for the mode of expression — 
 " My dead bodies shall arise^^ — clearly harmonizes 
 with the emphatic title " my tvjo witnesses''' 
 
 With this interpretation of the Prophet, it need 
 only be added, the context is not at variance, but 
 rather otherwise, which may the more commend 
 to the reader the connection b( tween the passages. 
 
 And great fear fell upon them which saw thetn.] 
 How natural this efiTect ujion the beholders of 
 
Cn.xi. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 151 
 
 such a supernatural event ! Thus, at our Lord's 
 resurrection, fear prevailed amongst all parties. 
 The kee2)ers shaking and becoming as dead men ; 
 and even His affectionate female disciples were 
 stricken with this emotion. Nor was it only the 
 apparition of the attendant angel which produced 
 it. The event itself must have inspired awe, as 
 pressing upon the mind a sense of the Divine 
 power and presence ; just as is mentioned in the 
 case of Peter, when he beheld the miraculous 
 draught of fishes ; and, similarly, on the occasion 
 of the Divine visitation on Ananias and Sapphira, 
 when we read : — ^' And great fear came upon all 
 the church, and upon as many as heard these 
 things." Acts v. 11. 
 
 Ver. 12. And they heard a great voice from 
 heaven.] That is, the Witnesses are thus greeted. 
 This address to them being analogous to that with 
 which our Lord was answered on the contemplation 
 of His passion, and the prayer which it inspired. 
 See John xii. 28. 
 
 Saying unto them, Come up hither^ Such is the 
 articulate utterance which the voice conveys to 
 them. And, doubtless, it proceeds from the Lord 
 Jesus, now in the aerial regions with his risen and 
 translated saints of this dispensation. The earth 
 will have cast out these His servants, denying to 
 them even the decency of burial; but thus the 
 heavens will open to receive them, and they shall 
 be welcomed into the presence of their Lord. 
 
152 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. xi. 1 — 19. 
 
 And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud, and 
 their eneinies beheld them.'] Thus their glorious 
 triumph over their enemies is consummated. It 
 •will be as when Elijah of old was translated to 
 heaven in a chariot of fire, (2 Kings ii. 11); or, as 
 the Lord Jesus himself was received up into glory 
 from the midst of His admiring disciples. Indeed, 
 the language in both descriptions is remarkably 
 parallel, as though to make the literality of the 
 one event assure us of that of the other. Compare 
 Acts i. 9, 10. 
 
 But, what shall be said of the system of inter- 
 pretation by which all these palpable facts con- 
 cerning the two Witnesses ; their death ; the 
 exposure of their dead bodies ; their resurrection 
 and ascension ; are all explained away : and in 
 their stead is substituted, as the purport of this 
 vision, a recital of what the Paulicians, the 
 Waldenses, Albigenses, &c., underwent from the 
 Papacy, at last terminating in the suppression of 
 their testimony; then, the revivalof that testimony 
 several years afterwards in the person of Luther ; 
 and lastly, the investment of Protestantism with 
 political influence in the world ! Surely, by this 
 and such like exercise of man's ingenuity, the 
 word of God is made of none effect, xs or is this all 
 the mischief that is done ', but further, a positive 
 countenance is hereby given to the infidel tendency 
 of the day, which is directed to the resolving into 
 
CH. xi. 1 — 19.] INTERPRETED. 153 
 
 mere myth, and allegory, the miraculous facts of 
 Christianity. For example, according to the most 
 recent exposition of this figurative school of inter- 
 pretation,* the heavens into which the Witnesses 
 ascended must be the political heavens to which 
 the truth of the reformation came to be exalted, 
 because it was visible to their enemies. From this 
 it is argued, that " it is not the spiritual heaven of 
 the Divine presence " which is contemplated. 
 Surely, this is presenting material, — however 
 unwittingly, — to German Theologians, where-from 
 to reduce the great cardinal truth of our Lord's 
 ascension into a mere fio'urative intimation of the 
 
 o 
 
 ascendancy that awaited the inculcation of His pure 
 system of morals ; for, according to the Scriptures, 
 Jesus luas seen by His disciples to go into heaven; 
 as truly as the Witnesses were seen to do so by 
 their enemies. f Compare Acts i. 11. 
 
 Ver. 13. And the same hour loas there a great 
 earthquake ^^ This is analogous to what occurred 
 at the resurrection of our blessed Lord himself; 
 and likewise in Philippi, when Paul and Silas had 
 their prison doors opened to the terror of their 
 persecutors. Mat. xxviii. 2 ; Acts xvi. 26. In both 
 these passages — obviously relating to different 
 phenomena — the reader will observe the expression 
 is, a " great earthquake," and therefore, we are 
 not to conclude, as has been hastily done, that the 
 
 * Horse Apocalypticae. + See Apocalyptic Interpretatiou. 
 
 h3 
 
154 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 19. 
 
 employment of such expression in this book 
 necessarily argues an identity of allusion : for 
 instance, between the earthquake here mentioned 
 and that under the sixth seal, Chap. vi. 12. Indeed, 
 to those who have followed the Author in his 
 introductory remarks on the interpretation of the 
 seals,* this mistake has been already provided 
 against; for therein it has been submitted, that 
 the sixth seal relates to that phase of events, 
 generally, which will present itself just prior to 
 the appearing of the Lord in the clouds of heaven ; 
 whereas, here, in the sixth trumpet, though 
 belonging to a parallel line of visions, it is plain that 
 such crisis is not yet reached; the vial plagues being 
 still in reserve. That the earthquakes under the 
 sixth vial and the sixth seal are the same, is probable 
 enough, their relative positions in the two parallel 
 lines of visions seem to indicate as much. But this 
 earthquake, under the sixth trumpet, cannot be 
 identified with either. 
 
 In the Old Testament prophecies, however, it 
 is not difficult to recognise the counterpart of this 
 precise phenomenon. For example, in Isaiah we 
 read, "Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where 
 David dwelt ! add ye year to year ; let them kill 
 sacrifices. Yet I will distress Ariel, and there 
 shall be heaviness and sorrow : and it shall be unto 
 me as Ariel. And I will camp against thee round 
 * See Vol. i. page 307— 3 i4. 
 
CH. xi. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 155 
 
 about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, 
 and I will raise forts against thee." Isaiah xxix. 
 1 — S. This answers to the siege of Jerusalem, 
 implied, as we have seen, under the fifth trumpet. 
 The name, Ariel, seems to point to the ancient 
 denomination of the city when David took it from 
 the Jebusites, and may be here used by God to 
 signify how unclean in His sight are its now 
 aj^ostate inhabitants. Then follows the recital of 
 the comjjlete subjection of these same guilty 
 parties : " And thou shalt be brought down, and 
 shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall 
 be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as 
 of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, 
 and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust. 
 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be 
 like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible 
 ones shall be as chaff that passeth away." Ver. 4, 5. 
 This accords with the treading of the holy city by 
 the Gentiles. Hereupon the Prophet proceeds : 
 " Yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly. Thou 
 shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, 
 and with earthquake." Ver. 6. May we not here 
 recognize the earthquake before us, under the 
 sixth trumpet, whereby the Divine retribution 
 comes upon the apostate city, in the midst of its 
 wicked carnival over the slain witnesses. Doubtless, 
 moreover, this begins the period of terrible 
 commotion and ruin yet to characterize the Jewish 
 
156 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 — 19. 
 
 land, which, is depicted in the 24th chap, of Isaiah, 
 and summed up in these emphatic words : " The 
 earth (land) is utterly broken down, the earth (land) 
 is clean dissolved, the earth (land) is moved exceed- 
 ingly. The earth (land) shall reel to and fro like 
 a drunkard, and shall be lemoved like a cottage ; 
 and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon 
 it; and it shall fall, and not rise again." Ver. 19, 
 20. In the Hebrew, the word rendered earth 
 equally stands for land, as above given. And it 
 is plain, from the tenor of the chapter, that the 
 latter is what is meant. Nor need the last clause 
 of the description, about its ?iot rismg again, 
 embarrass us in this conclusion; for the force of the 
 words, according to the Hebrew idiom, is simply, 
 that the land shall not merely stumble, as it were, 
 recovering itself like a drunken man, but shall 
 become utterly prostrated for the appointed time. 
 And the tenth part of the city fell ^ The city 
 referred to is of course the same already defined, 
 that is, Jerusalem. And one effect of the earth- 
 quake is, that the tenth part of the city falls. 
 Here, again, the 24th of Isaiah may be adduced 
 to help our conception of the scene thus rehearsed. 
 " The city of confusion," salth the prophet, " is 
 broken down; every house is shut up" (i. e. 
 obstructed as we can imagine by the ruins) " that 
 no man may come in.." v. 10. Again, '' In the 
 city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with 
 
CH. xi. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 157 
 
 destruction," v. 12. In Ezekiel, also — as God 
 contemplates with anger the confederacy which is 
 depicted, in this vision, as insolently triumphing 
 in Jerusalem, — He thus declares what shall 
 happen : — " Surely in that day there shall be a 
 great shaking in the land of Israel;. . , .and the 
 mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep 
 places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the 
 ground." Ezekiel xxxviii. 19, 20. 
 
 But this dreadful crash of buildings and houses 
 in Jerusalem will not affect merely the Gentile 
 invaders. No doubt, upon the unhumbled Jews 
 themselves, the disaster is also designed to operate. 
 For they will have " built their city with blood, 
 and established it by iniquity ;" and, so, in its 
 burying them in its ruins, they shall suffer the 
 righteous retort predicted : — " the stone shall 
 cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the 
 timber shall answer it." Hab. ii. 11. Thus, 
 may not the allusion, in the prophet Ezekiel, to 
 the catastrophe attending " the wall daubed with 
 untempered mortar"* be more than a mere 
 similitude ? May it not point to this very event, 
 the overthrow, by Divine wrath, of the edifices 
 raised by the proud self-sufficient nation, when 
 they first return to their land. By their procedure 
 (aided by false prophets) to intrench themselves 
 in their promised inheritance, without penitent 
 * Chapter xiii. 14. 
 
158 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 — 19. 
 
 submission to God, tliey will have j)ractically said, 
 " peace, when there was no peace ; "* and so their 
 very handiwork shall be made the means of 
 inflicting on them the Divine retribution. 
 
 A7id in the earthquake were slain of men seven 
 thousand.'] Such will be amongst the fatal con- 
 sequences of the earthquake which will affect 
 Jerusalem. And we can conceive of the terrible 
 scene of desolation and woe, which that city will 
 thus present, from what is recorded concernmg 
 phenomena of the kind in modern times. For 
 example, describing the particulars of that 
 memorable earthquake which happened at Lisbon 
 in the year 1755. A spectator has written as 
 follows : — " With regard to the buildings, it was 
 observed that the solidest in general fell the first. 
 Every parish church, convent, nunnery, palace, 
 and public edifice, with an infinite number of 
 private houses, were either thrown down or so 
 miserably shattered, that it was rendered dangerous 
 to pass by them." Thus, we can easily conceive, 
 how, by means of the earthquake before us, the 
 day of the Lord, as the Prophet Isaiah says, " shall 
 he upon every high tower and upon every fenced 
 toallJ'^ Isa. ii. 15. But the dreadful suffering and 
 mortality of the scene may be collected from what 
 the same writer adds that he witnessed in Lisbon : — 
 " The scenes of horror I met with exceed all 
 
 * Verse 10. 
 
CH. xi. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 159 
 
 description ; notliing could be heard but sighs and 
 groans : I did not meet with a soul in the passage 
 who was not bewailing the death of his nearest 
 relations and dearest friends, or the loss of all his 
 substance ; I could hardly take a single step 
 without treading on the dead or the dying ; in 
 some places lay coaches, with their masters, horses, 
 and riders, almost crushed in pieces ; here mothers 
 with infants in their arms; there ladies richly 
 dressed ; priests, friars, gentlemen, mechanics, 
 either in the same condition, or just expiring; 
 some had their backs or thighs broken, others 
 vast stones on their breasts ; some lay almost 
 buried in the rubbish, and crying out in vain to the 
 passengers for succour, were left to perish with 
 the rest.* 
 
 But to turn from this picture of what may be 
 supposed will yet be presented in Jerusalem, it is 
 necessary to observe, that the seven thousand 
 who are specified as perishing, are described as 
 belonging to the male population. Moreover, the 
 strict rendering of the original is seve7i thousand 
 names of men, an expression very like that which 
 is employed by the Septuagint in Genesis vi. 4. 
 " men of renown.^'' Perhaps, therefore, we should 
 regard the same idea as conveyed here, and that 
 these parties who are slain by the earthquake in 
 Jerusalem are men of note, who, like Korah and 
 
 * Letters on Literature by the Rev. Charles Davy. 
 
160 THE APOCALYPSE CH. xi. 1 — 19. 
 
 his company of old, who perished similarly, will 
 yet signalize themselves in apostacy from God. It 
 is remarkable, also, that Korah and his company 
 are similarly denominated, " famous in the con- 
 gregation, men of renown T Num. xvi. 2. 
 
 May it not be, it is submitted, further, to the 
 intelligent reader, that the diminution thus effected 
 as well as by the progress of war, among the male 
 population in Jerusalem, has a connexion in the 
 way of cause with the remarkable competition for 
 husbands, which it appears will characterize Jewish 
 females, according to the Prophet Isaiah : — " In 
 that day seven women shall take hold of one man, 
 saying, we will eat our own bread, and wear our 
 own apparel ; only let us be called by thy name, 
 to take away our reproach. Isaiah iv. 1. Nor is 
 thei-e any thing to mar this inference in the note 
 of time belonging to the two prophecies, but rather 
 the reverse. For while the men in question 
 perish in the earthquake, it seems to be imme- 
 diately subsequent to such event that the women 
 pursue the course alleged. They will act thus, 
 says the Prophet, " in that day ;" and the character 
 of that day is given in the verse preceding : — 
 " her gates (i. e. of Jerusalem) shall lament and 
 mourn ; and she being desolate shall sit upon the 
 ground." Isaiah iii. 26. Added to this, in the 
 beginning of the Chapter, we seem to have an 
 enumeration of parties taken away out of Jerusalem 
 
VAl. xi. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 161 
 
 by the Judgment of God, whose description quite 
 coincides with the import above assigned to the 
 unusual expression, names of men ; — " Behold the 
 Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from 
 Jerusalem and from Judah. . .the mighty man, and 
 the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and 
 the prudent and the ancient, the captain of fifty, 
 and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and 
 the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator." 
 (Isaiah iii. 1 — 3.) 
 
 If this comparison between the vision before us 
 and the Prophet Isaiah, be maintainable, of 
 course, those who perish by the earthquake, must 
 be regarded as belonging to the Jewish inhabitants 
 of the city j and, indeed, the clause which follows 
 is confirmatory of this. 
 
 And the remnant were affrighted^ Thus, the 
 fearful demonstration just given of the Lord's 
 righteous judgments, has effect upon the surviving 
 remnant of the Jewish inhabitants. Hitherto, even 
 under the visitation of the fifth trumpet, they had 
 continued unmoved, repenting not of their various 
 wickednesses. See Chap. ix. 20 — 21. But now, 
 the humbling process has become effectual, and a 
 reverential fear of God possesses them. 
 
 And gave glory to the God of heaven.] This is a 
 general expression for repentance. Thus we read, 
 " Give glory to the Lord your God." Jer. xiii. 16. 
 But the phrase is sometimes used in a more limited 
 
162 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 — 19. 
 
 sense to signify confession of sin ; as for example, 
 when Achan was carried out of the camp to be 
 stoned, Joshua, we read, adjured him to ^^ give glory 
 to God^'' that is, as shown by Achan's reply — to 
 acknowledge his guilt in the matter of which he 
 had been convicted. Josh. vii. 19. And so, in the 
 ixth of John, a passage upon which this last reference 
 throws light. When the Pharisees addressed 
 themselves to the blind man to whom our Lord 
 had given sight, with the view of getting him to 
 admit that he had been acting the impostor, and 
 that the Lord had not wrought the alleged miracle 
 upon him, their words were, — not as it is in our 
 translation, " give God the praise," as though 
 they allowed the miracle, but would have it 
 ascribed to God, (and the context gives no coun- 
 tenance to this view), but simply — ^ give glory to 
 God^ that is, ' tell the truth, and confess the 
 imposture.' Now, it is the very same Greek 
 phrase employed here, and in the Septuagint of 
 Josh. vii. 19, which we have before us touching 
 the survivors of the earthquake. Accordingly, 
 the meaning may only be, that they at length 
 were brought to acknowledge their wickedness, 
 which had provoked God to pour out his wrath 
 upon them. And here, may come in the excla- 
 mation of the Prophet : — " Lord, in trouble have 
 thy visited thee ; they poured out a prayer when 
 thy chastening was upon them." Isa. xxvi. 16. 
 
CII. xi. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 163 
 
 Ver. 14. The secorid woe is past ; and behold 
 the third woe cometh quickly. '\ An interjected 
 announcement similar to this, we had in Chap. ix. 
 12, after the rehearsal of the fifth trumpet; except 
 that there we met not with the note of immediate 
 sequence which we have here, touching the woes 
 in reserve. Here that note occurs, as though to 
 intimate that the final consummating plagues of 
 wrath upon the wicked Gentiles, contained imder 
 the seventh Trumpet, would immediately descend. 
 
 Ver. 15. And the seventh angel sounded?^ This 
 is the last trumpet of the series ; and the sounding 
 of it by the seventh angel, as already observed, 
 initiates the outpouring of the vial plagues. And 
 as these plagues consummate God's work of 
 judgment on the earth, before the Lord Jesus 
 personally appears upon the scene, to establish his 
 kingdom ; the Spirit hastens, as it were, to take 
 advantage of this, and to celebrate by anticipation 
 the concomitants and results of that gloiious event. 
 
 Amongst these, the reader will perceive, is 
 included a resurrection, obviously, of the righteous ; 
 and thus there may naturally be a disposition to 
 identify this trumpet with " the last trump " 
 spoken of by the Apostle Paul in his Epistle to 
 the Corinthians : " Behold I show you a mystery : 
 we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 
 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the 
 last trump ; for the trumpet shall sound, and 
 
164 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 — 19. 
 
 the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we 
 shall be changed." 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52. But, is 
 it so, that the saints of this dispensation, to 
 whose resurrection and rapture it is manifest 
 that the Apostle here alludes, are the same 
 with those contemplated under the sounding of 
 the seventh trumpet ? The Author submits not. 
 In factj, the former have been already gathered to 
 meet their Lord in the air ; and as we have seen 
 in Chap. iv. of this book, will be administrators 
 with Him of the judgments that will then run 
 their course on the earth. But, as at their resur- 
 rection, the Apostle had written in his Epistle to 
 the Thessalonians — an Epistle which preceded by 
 some years, that to the Corinthians, — that there 
 would be the sounding of the " trump of God y" 
 so in this latter Epistle, referring to the same, he 
 terms it the last trump ; not, however, because of 
 its closing the series mentioned in the Apocalypse, 
 — which we must remember had not then been given 
 to John — but rather, it may be presumed, because 
 of the last trump constituting the signal of a con- 
 summated undertaking, as evinced on the occasion 
 of the capture of Jericho. Indeed, even the former 
 reference — that in the Epistle to the Thessalonians 
 — seems to point to this memorable precedent ; 
 for, though it denominates not the trump as the 
 last one : yet it associates with it the Lord's 
 descending with " a shout ^^ an equally striking 
 
CH. xi. 1 — 19] INTERPRETED. 165 
 
 feature in the taking of Jericho ; for, together with 
 the last sounding of the trumpets by the priests, 
 Joshua giving the word, we I'ead that " the people 
 shouted with a great shout.'''' Joshua vi. 20. Thus 
 both these passages, though by a different index, 
 sufficiently point to Old Testament history as the 
 scope of the Apostle's allusion; and we are relieved 
 from the perplexity of having to synchronize the 
 resurrection of believers under this dispensation 
 with the resurrection under the seventh trumpet. 
 
 And there ivere great voices in heave?i.'] These 
 voices issue, we may presume, from the throne in 
 the heavens, as desribed in Chap. iv. — The glorified 
 Church and innumerable hosts of angels thus 
 uttering their congratulations at the approaching 
 fulfilment of the Divine j)urpose, although to be 
 ushered in amidst still more awful demonstrations 
 of judgment — 
 
 Saying, The hingdoms of this world are become 
 the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ^ Such 
 is the happy consummation which the foregoing 
 voices in heaven are heard celebrating. Through 
 the perspective, as it were, of the vial-plagues, the 
 time is thus joyfully descried, in which God's 
 dominion shall prevail throughout the whole earth; 
 when, in fact, the kingdom shall have come, and 
 the Divine will be clone in earth, as it is in heaven — 
 the blessed hope as it has been presented to the 
 eye of faith in all ages. 
 
166 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 19. 
 
 Nor ought this emphatic anticipation of the 
 future, be lost on those Christians who are wont to 
 conceive of our Lord's kingdom as merely spiritual, 
 and invisible in its nature. The kingdoms of this 
 world are not invisible, but palpable realities; and 
 why should not that sovereignty into which they 
 are all to merge, be equally palpable ? It is true 
 that now the Spirit of God is secretly working in 
 the w^orld, gathering out of it " the heavenly 
 family," that with Jesus, their glorious Head, shall 
 preside over the kingdom ; and so, during this 
 dispensation, it is in abeyance. It is true, also, as 
 our Lord himself said to Pilate, His kingdom " is 
 not of this world,"* that is, in the sense of being 
 derived from it ; but this means not that His 
 kingdom will not be over the w^orld, any more 
 than His disclaimer concerning John's baptism, 
 that it was not "o/*me/2,"t imported that men were 
 not the subjects of it. 
 
 Blessed, indeed, truly blessed shall be the 
 extension of true religion at the period con- 
 templated amongst mankind: "All the ends of the 
 world shall remember and turn unto the Lord : 
 and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship 
 before him ;"J and where is the Christian heart to 
 which such prospect is not dear ? But let us not 
 overlook lioio all this is to be brought about, 
 according to what the Psalmist adds : " For the 
 
 * John xviii. 36. + Mat. xxi. 25. I Psalm xxii 27. 
 
Cil. XI. 1 — 19.] INTERPRETED. 167 
 
 kingdom is the LorcFs, and he is the governor 
 among the nations.'''^ Psalm xxii. 28. And again, 
 " He hath remembered his mercy and his truth 
 towards the house of Israel : all the ends of the 
 earth have seen the salvation of our God." Psalm 
 xcviii. S. Thus we see by these two texts, and 
 they are heads under which, respectively, numerous 
 others may be found to range, that the salvation 
 and good government of the world are yet to flow 
 from the two-fold relationship of Jesus — the Seed 
 of Abraham — the Son of David. And until He 
 appears in His glory building up Zion, the nations, 
 as such, shall not be blessed, neither judgment nor 
 justice be executed in the eaith. 
 
 It is observable, that in this celebration of the 
 kingdom by the heavenly choir, it is regarded as the 
 kingdom of their Lord and of ^^ Him the Christ^ 
 Such is the literal rendering. Nor is the addition 
 of this last title without its use, for it serves as we 
 shall see, to the right interpretation of the following 
 clause. 
 
 And he shall reign for ever and ever.] Eemem- 
 bering that this eternal dominion is predicated of 
 our blessed Lord as the Christ, we can take it in 
 its fullest acceptation, although elsewhere it is 
 said that after accomplishing the subjection of 
 all things. He is to deliver up the kingdom to 
 God, even the Father.* For, as the Christ, 
 
 * 1 Cor. XV. 24. 
 
168 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 19. 
 
 it belongs to him to hold all power of the 
 Father ; and the Apostle's proposition only 
 means that this shall be duly manifested, when 
 the time comes. It is not a surrender of the 
 kingdom which the Apostle ascribes to our Lord, 
 but the commending of it, when completely 
 organized, to the Father, under whom he hence- 
 forth and for ever ostensibly governs it. The 
 verb employed in the original fully bears this 
 signification, for it is one which is ajiplied to 
 the recommendation of Paul and Barnabus to 
 the grace of God,* and again to the maturity 
 of the fruits of the earth.f Just then, as 
 we may conceive of a Governor invested with 
 absolute authority in a revolted province, that 
 after having subdued all opposition, he takes the 
 place of the ordinary Vicegerent. So it will be 
 with our blessed Lord. At his second advent he 
 enters upon his reign ; which no oj^position shall 
 be able to withstand : " He must reign till he 
 hath put all enemies under his feet." ver. 25. 
 His reign accordingly, at this stage, seems co-ordi- 
 nate with that of God. But, adds the Apostle, 
 " When all things shall be subdued unto him, 
 then shall the Son also himself be subject," (i. e. as 
 a subordinate Buler the Christ) " unto him that 
 put all things under him, that God may be all in 
 all." ver 28. 
 
 * Acts xiv. 26, 40. + Murk iv. 29. 
 
CH. xi. 1 — 19 ] INTERPRETED. 169 
 
 The following pregnant thoughts upon this great 
 subject, and the still deeper truth in which it has 
 its roots, may not be unacceptable to the reader: — 
 
 " Christ is now sitting, in expectation, at the 
 right hand of the Majesty on high, waiting till the 
 fulness of the times for gathering into one, and 
 subordinating all under His headship, be come. 
 And meanwhile, the Father is giving Him a 
 people to come and reign along with Him — ' His 
 inheritance in the saints ; ' which times of the 
 Father being accomplished, Christ is manifested 
 again to complete His work of redeeming the 
 inheritance, and bringing it into the condition of 
 eternal order, according to the design of the 
 Father, which being done. He surrenders it up 
 into the Father's hand, and humbles Himself for 
 ever to remain His Father's servant."* Again, 
 the same writer says: — "God hatha created world, 
 and He put the man Adam into the governance 
 thereof. Adam fell from his lordship into miserable 
 bondage ; whereupon God prepared to provide 
 for Himself another king, who should be worthy 
 to hold the reins of the created world. And this 
 king He found in Christ, whom, after proving 
 His faithfulness, — alone faithful against a world in 
 rebellion, — -He promoted to be Lord of all. But 
 herewith ended not His ' scheme ; for no sooner 
 is Christ ascended into the heavens, than He 
 
 * IrviDg's Exposition of the Eevelation. — Vol. iii. p. l^-il. 
 VOL. 11. 8. I 
 
no THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 19. 
 
 receiveth power from God to bring many sons 
 unto the glory of the same royal priesthood. And 
 those whom the Father giveth unto Him, Christ 
 doth straightway wash from their defilements, and 
 proceed to furnish with gifts, and graces, and 
 ornaments, and powers, which may accomplish 
 them for the high dignity to which they have been 
 elected, — of ruling the universe of God. — What, 
 now, may mean these many kings and priests ? Is 
 not Christ Lord of all ? wherefore then lords 
 many, and priests many ? I answer. Yes. Christ 
 is Lord of all, and only High Priest. Yet not the 
 less be there lords many, and priests many; who, 
 being by Him furnished for their high employment, 
 and having all their life long experienced their 
 own innate bondage to the creature, and their 
 lordship over it derived only from Christ, shall, in 
 the ages to come, be the true representatives of 
 His person, and the faithful upholders of His only 
 lordship in the divers regions of creation. How 
 it is to be arranged of God in the ages to come, I 
 take not upon myself to declare at present ; but 
 though I were altogether ignorant of the mode 
 and manner thereof, that were no reason for my 
 flinching to declare fully the substance of the 
 words before us, which is, that God is preparing 
 out of fallen manhood a royal family for Himself, 
 whom, under Christ, He may invest with the 
 sceptres and the altars of the created universe ; 
 
CH. xi. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 171 
 
 through whom, and through whom alone, every 
 creature shaJl present the obedience and the 
 worship, which, to Godhead, it oweth. And they 
 shall present it unto Christ, with whom they are 
 one, bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh, beauty of 
 His beauty, and power of His power; and thus the 
 streams of ascending influence shall, from every 
 holy sphere, concentrate to that place where He 
 in Manhood dwelleth ; in that New Jerusalem 
 where Emmanuel, God with us, abideth ; and 
 there it passeth into the invisible, and is received 
 
 into the unsearchable bosom of God 
 
 By the word Christ, many do merely understand 
 the eternal Son of God, wherein they err, not 
 knowing the Scriptures. The Christ of God is not 
 the Son in His Godhead, but the Godhead in the 
 Son made flesh. It is a form of being different 
 from the being of God, inasmuch as the being of 
 God is essentially separate from the creature ; the 
 being of Christ is essentially one with the creature ; 
 and because one with the creature, the Christ 
 cannot worship Himself, otherwise He worshippeth 
 the creature, in Him especially included ; and He 
 therefore worshippeth the being of God separate 
 from the creature ; which being of God containeth 
 Father, Sou, and Holy Ghost, in their incompre- 
 hensible, unsearchable, essential, form of existence; 
 which, as hath been explained above, standeth in 
 the person of the Father. It is one part of the 
 
172 THE APOCALYPSE CH. xi. 1 — 19. 
 
 Son's humiliation to bring Himself to be the Head 
 of the worshippers, and not the end of worship. 
 As the end of worship He hath given, as the 
 Spirit likewise hath, the glory to the Father, 
 being, for their parts, contented to become, in the 
 sight of the creatures — the former, the Head of the 
 worshippers — the latter, the mover and sustainer 
 of the worship. And thus the Godhead standeth 
 disclosed, for the knowledge and for the salvation 
 of the creatures." * 
 
 Ver. 16. And the four and tioenty elders 
 which sat hefore God on their seats (thrones), fell 
 tipon their faces, and icor shipped God.] As the 
 establishment of Messiah's kingdom is especially 
 fraught with blessing to the Jewish nation, their 
 glorified brethren in heaven, represented by the 
 twenty-four elders, hereupon render to God their 
 grateful homage. See Vol. i. j^p. 271—273. Their 
 ^ elf-prostration, in doing this, shows how filled 
 they are with thoughts of the Divine glory. 
 
 Ver. 17. Saying, ice give thee tJianhs, Lord 
 God Almighty, lohich art, and wast, and art to 
 come.'] Thus their worship takes the form of 
 thanksgiving ; and in the titles they give to God, 
 they celebrate His Almighty power and eternity 
 <,f being. Of course this worship of God con- 
 ■emplates His glorious manifestation in the Person 
 oi' the Christ ; and so, by Him, in the beginning of 
 * Ibid. Vol. i. p. 148—150. 
 
CTI. xl. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. lT-3 
 
 this book, we have had these same titles assumed. 
 See Rev. i. 8 ; also, Vol. i. pp. 24, 26, 
 
 Because thou hast tahni to Ihee thy great power, 
 and hast reigned.^ This utterance confirms the 
 foregoing view, that to the Lord Jesus, as revealing 
 the Father, the present act of worship is addressed. 
 He is now the anointed King, but rejected by the 
 world, yea, by His own nation — the Jews. As 
 the citizens in the parable, they have sent the 
 message after Him, " We will not have this man 
 to reign over us." Luke xix. 14. But, ere long, 
 He will assert His right ; and, in despite of all 
 His enemies, sit upon His appointed throne. This 
 event, though yet only on the eve of transaction, 
 is realized as accomplished in the hymn of praise 
 before us. Hence, the past tense is used ; these 
 glorified ones exhibiting an example of that faith 
 which, relying on the Divine word, "^ calleth 
 those things which be not as though they were." 
 Rom. iv. 17. 
 
 Ver. 18. A7id the nations loere angry ^ Thus, 
 instead of the glorious advent of Messiah being 
 hailed by the nations, they will be incensed at the 
 thought of it. And this hostility to the Divine 
 purpose. Psalm ii. prophetically contemplates: 
 " Why do the heathen rage, and the people 
 imasrine a vain thinsr ? The kinsfs of the earth 
 set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, 
 against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, 
 
174 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. Xl. 1 — 19. 
 
 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away 
 tbeir cords from us." Ps. ii. 1 — 3. That the full 
 import of these words extends to beyond the 
 persecuting opposition shown to Christ and His 
 Gospel, at His first advent, cannot be doubted for 
 a moment. The passage, indeed, is thus applied 
 in the praise rendered to God by Peter and John, 
 after their dismissal from the presence of the Chief 
 Priests (Acts iv. 25, 26.) ; and of such application 
 it legitimately admits throughout this dispensation. 
 But the Apostles merely quote it^ adding, by way 
 of improvement : " Of a truth, against thy holy 
 child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod 
 and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the 
 people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do 
 whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined 
 before to be done." Ver. 27, 28. And as they 
 do not predicate of that occasion any fulfilment 
 of the Psalm, so the whole context forbids our 
 entertaining such interpretation. 
 
 Perhaps, this clearly assigned disaffection of 
 the nations of the earth, to the glorious advent 
 of Messiah, should suggest to us, that, in our 
 translation of Haggai ii. 7, which, contrary hereto, 
 represents the Messiah as " the demre of all 
 nations^'' there is some misapprehension of the 
 mind of the Spirit. Accordingly, it is worthy 
 of remark that Calvin, whose critical sagacity is 
 so generally acknowledged, (and he is followed by 
 
CH. xi. 1 — 19.] INTERPRETED. 175 
 
 modern writers,) explains the clause in question, 
 in conformity with the Septuagint, to refer to 
 the treasures of all naiiojts. " As it immediately 
 follows — mine is the silver , and mine is the gold, 
 the more simple meaning is, that the nations 
 would come bringing with them all their riches, 
 that they might offer themselves and all their 
 possessions as a sacrifice to God;"* an inter- 
 pretation not a little confirmed by the apparently 
 parallel prophecy of Isaiah. See chapter Ix., 
 verses 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 17, which cannot be other- 
 wise understood. Nor is this interpretation 
 inconsistent with the Hebrew, but rather the 
 reverse ; for the verb " come," as plural, would 
 indicate the presence of a plural nominative — and 
 although, in this case, the nominative " desire^^ 
 is singular, yet it only requires the addition of 
 a yod (^) to convert it into a plural, and this 
 emendation is obviously preferable to allowing 
 (which we must otherwise do) the solecism to 
 remain, of a plural verb with a singular nomi- 
 native. To some it may seem that, without 
 emendation, this text is not inharmonious with 
 the passage before us, for that it may simply 
 mean that the advent of Messiah is a desirable 
 tiling for the nations, just as it is represented to 
 be to the whole inferior creation. Rom. viii. 
 19 — 22. But this, it is submitted, would be to 
 introduce a figure of speech where the literal sense 
 * See Calvin, in loco. 
 
176 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 19. 
 
 can obviously stand without it — a course which, 
 without strong warrant, we ought not to be 
 disposed to pursue. 
 
 And thy wrath is co?ne.] Here, again, is a 
 rehearsal of the Spirit's utterance in the second 
 Psalm, and in the same order ; for there, just as 
 here, the Divine indignation meets the impotent 
 rage of the nations : — " He that sitteth in the 
 heavens shall laugh ; the Lord shall have them 
 in deiision. Then shall he speak unto them in 
 his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure." 
 (ver. 4, 5.) And the signal occasion is the same, 
 the establishment of Messiah's kingdom — as the 
 next verse implies : " Yet have I set my kin^ 
 upon my holy hill of Zion." (ver. 6.) In the 
 same connexion, this crisis is regarded by the 
 Jewish remnant in Psalm xlvi. : " The heathen 
 raged, the kingdoms were moved : he uttered his 
 voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is 
 with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge," (ver. 6, 7.) 
 Doubtless, also, this is the subject celebrated in 
 the song of Moses, where we read : — " Eejoice, 
 O ye nations, (that is, the surviving nations,) 
 -with his people : for he will avenge the blood of 
 his servants, and will render vengeance to his 
 adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, 
 and to his people." Deut. xxxii. 43. 
 
 A?icl the time of the dead that they should he 
 judged^ By the dead, here, seems to be intended, 
 the righteous dead — the martyrs, under the fifth 
 
CFI. xi, 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 177 
 
 seal, together with their fellows, spoken of as to 
 be slain afterwards. The cry of the souls of 
 the former from under the altar, which we may 
 naturally consider common to all was : — " How 
 long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge 
 and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the 
 earth?" Rev. vi. 10. And, now, the season for 
 which they were enjoined to wait, being at hand, 
 the judgment prayed for is realized as granted. 
 To them, that judgment, all which is committed 
 to the Son of man, will consist of a resurrection 
 to life ; and the actual rehearsal of it is presented 
 to us in chapter xx, where we read : — '' xlnd 
 I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for 
 the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, 
 and wdiich had not worshipped the beast, neither 
 his image, neither had received his mark upon 
 their foreheads or in their hands; and they 
 lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." 
 (ver. 4.) That these are the same parties with " the 
 dead " who are contemplated in the clause before 
 us, we may reasonably conclude. At the same 
 time, as the taking his saints to a resurrection of 
 life is but one part of the judicial j)ower assigned 
 to our Lord, and, eventually, is to be succeeded 
 by a resurrection to judgment of the rest of the 
 dead ; it is possible that, in this celebration of 
 the future, under the seventh trumpet, there may 
 be a reference to the twofold event. 
 i3 
 
178 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 19. 
 
 The reader Avill observe that the resurrection 
 of the samts of this dispensation, and, indeed, 
 of former dispensations, is a matter not involved 
 here. Abeady glorified as they are represented 
 to be, in the living creatures and twenty-four 
 elders of chapter iv, their resurrection must 
 necessarily be ante-dated in regard to the visions 
 that follow. 
 
 A)id that tliou sliouldest give reward unto thy 
 serva?ds the jyrophets, and to the saints.] This 
 seems to be exegetical of the foregoing clause. 
 " The dead," therein referred to, are now defined 
 under the denomination generally of prophets 
 and saints ; and, during the reign of Antichrist, 
 we know there will be such (Jewish believers) 
 who will seal their testimony to the truth with 
 their blood. Hence it is said, when vengeance 
 falls upon Babylon, the seat of Antichrist's 
 dominion, that " in her was found the blood of 
 prophets and of saints." Eev. xviii. 24. In 
 resurrection glory, then, shall they at length 
 have their reward, when the Lord Jesus comes 
 to judgment. See Rev. xx. 4. 
 
 A?id them that fear thy name, small and great.] 
 This seems to designate the happy subjects of 
 Messiah's reign, the Jewish people, primarily, 
 who shall be in the flesh ; for they also shall have 
 their reward when the specified time arrives. 
 And the hope of such is thus enlarged on in the 
 
CH. xi. 1 19.J INTERPHETED. 179 
 
 Psalms : — " The Lord hath been mindful of us : 
 he will bless us ; he will bless the house of Israel ; 
 he will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless 
 them that fear the Lord, both small and great." 
 Psalm cxv. 12, 13. 
 
 And sliouldest destroy them which destroy the 
 earth.] This will be another concomitant of 
 Messiah's reign. Reclaiming the earth out of the 
 hands of its Antichristian oppressors, he will take 
 vengeance upon them. Or the word " earth" 
 may be translated land, signifying the Jewish 
 land, Palestine, which, as we have seen, will be 
 overrun at this time by enemies. And so, the 
 Prophet Daniel declares that " the people of 
 the Prince that shall come shall destroy the city 
 and the sanctuary." Daniel ix. 26. Our Lord, 
 accordingly, as the Goel of Israel, shall now 
 interpose for the redemption of their inheritance, 
 and pour destruction upon the proud invader and 
 his hosts. Hence, at the prospect of the second 
 advent, we read, and it applies to either scale 
 
 of inter]3retation : — " Let the earth be glad 
 
 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein ; 
 then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before 
 the Lord : for he cometh, for he cometh to judge 
 the earth." Psalm xcvi. 11 — 13. To this efiect, 
 also, the Prophet Isaiah, representing Palestine 
 as one scene of ruin, under the domination of the 
 Antichrist, at once breaks in upon the sorrowful 
 theme with a notice of the Lord's interpositiop •- 
 
180 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. Xl. 1 — 19. 
 
 " The liigliways lie waste, tlie wayfaring man 
 ceaseth : he hath broken the covenant, he hath 
 despised the cities, he regardeth no man. The 
 earth mourneth and languisheth ; Lebanon is 
 ashamed and hewn down ; Sharon is like a 
 wilderness ; and Bashan and Carmel shake off 
 their fruits. Now will I rise, saith the Lord, 
 now will I be exalted ; now will I lift up myself." 
 And it is worthy of remark, as indicating a 
 parallelism with the vision before us of the 
 sounding of the seventh trumpet, that, in some 
 translations of the Hebrew, (including the Vulgate,) 
 verse S, of this chapter, begins thus : — " At the 
 voice of till/ angel the people Jled.^^ 
 
 Thus, we see that the earth, fallen as it is, is cared 
 for in the Divine counsels, so that its unpitying deso- 
 lators bring down judgment upon themselves. It is 
 not then to be annihilated, as some thoughtlessly 
 imagine ; but, in its measure, will partake of the 
 redeeming power of the second Adam. And all 
 Scripture recognizes this truth. A purifying pro- 
 cess, indeed, awaits this, as well as the other parts 
 of creation, all being defiled by sin ; and we learn 
 that the agency of fire will be that employed on the 
 occasion. But it will issue from the furnace, in 
 conformity with redeemed man himself, a brighter 
 and more glorious heritage than it ever was, even 
 "when the morning stars sang together, and the sons 
 of God shouted for joy,"* at its original creation. 
 
 * Job xxxviii. 7. 
 
CH. xi. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 181 
 
 Perhaps it may be well to observe here, that 
 2 Peter iii. 10, which seems to indicate the 
 complete consumption of the earth by fire, only 
 requires to be differently punctuated^ in order to 
 render it harmonious with what has been nosv 
 advanced ; and the well-known rule of a neuter- 
 plural taking after it a verb singular, requires 
 this emendation. Accordingly, the verse should 
 be thus read : — " The day of the Lord will come 
 as a thief in the nighty in the which the heavens 
 shall pass away with a great noise, and the 
 elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth 
 also ; and the works that are therein shall be 
 burnt up." By this reading, if is manifest that 
 the '' burning up," in question, is predicated, 
 not of the earth itself, though it indeed will 
 undergo a fermenting heat, but of the works that 
 are therein — the monuments of man's j)erverted 
 ingenuity. 
 
 Ver. 19. And the fe^nple of God was opened in 
 heaven?^ From several allusions in Scripture, it 
 would seem as though the dwelling place of the 
 Divine Majesty in heaven were a temple. Thus 
 we read in Psalm xi. : " The Lord is in his 
 holy temple ;" and this is connected with the 
 apparently equivalent proposition which follows : 
 " the Lord's throne is in heaven." Ps. xi. 4. In a 
 preceding vision, also, we have had corresponding 
 imagery employed in reference to the angelic 
 
182 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 19. 
 
 ministration which ushers in the trumpet visitations. 
 See ch. viii. 1 — 5. And when we remember that 
 the temple at Jerusalem, as originally built by 
 Solomon, was constructed after a pattern shown 
 by God to David (in like manner as the 
 tabernacle previously built by Moses) it ought 
 to occur to us as not improbable that here 
 that pattern, or archetype, is alluded to. May 
 we not identify it, also, with the antitypical taber- 
 nacle of which St. Paul speaks, when contrasting 
 it with its type, he describes it as " the true 
 tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man?" 
 Heb. viii. 2 — 5. It may be important to observe, 
 that in this passage it is not the Levitical service 
 generally which is said to have its counterpart in 
 heaven, but the sacred enclosure itself, wherein 
 the Priests exercised their religious functions ; 
 and so verse 5 ought to be translated — Vho worship 
 (Xarpevovai) in the example and shadow of heavenly 
 things,' i. e. the Mosaic tabernacle. Of course, it 
 is not intended to exclude from the reader's mind, 
 in connexion with the tabernacle, the other typical 
 instruction on the subject which relates to the 
 Person and work of Christ; this interferes not 
 with the view here submitted, that the tabernacle 
 itself, as an edifice, was a model of heavenly places, 
 even where Christ sitteth now at the right hand 
 of God. 
 
 And there ivas seen m his temple the ark of his 
 
CH. xi. 1 19.] INTERPRETED. 183 
 
 testament^ In the vision introductory to the 
 trumpet visitations, — the goklen altar being 
 employed, which was wont to come into requisition 
 when Israel became involved in any national sin, 
 (Lev. iv. 13 — 18,) suggested, we have seen, the 
 purport of those visitations towards that people. 
 Here the formal exhibition of the ark of the 
 testament, or covenant, preparatory to the vial 
 plagues upon Israel's Gentile oppressors, is 
 similarly appropriate. For, this appurtenance of 
 the tabernacle, as the symbol of the Divine mercy 
 and faithfulness to Israel, was never commissioned 
 to be used except for good to that people. Thus, 
 " as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that 
 bare the ark of the Lord " were dipped in the 
 waters ef Jordan, a passage was made for the 
 people on dry ground. Jos. iii. 13, 17. Again, at 
 the fall of Jericho, the ark of the Lord was carried 
 round the devoted city, and had to do with its 
 subsequent destruction. (Josh, vi.) Accordingly, its 
 capture by the Philistines became afterwards the 
 occasion of that bitter wailing of Eli's daughter-in- 
 law, when, with exj)iring breath, naming her just 
 born child ^^IchabodP she exclaimed : " the glory 
 is departed from Israel, for the ark of God is 
 taken." 1 Sam. iv. 22. 
 
 But, perhaps, analogous to the heavenly site of 
 this temple, we "should regard the ark here spoken 
 of, not as identical with that deposited in the 
 
184 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xi. 1 19. 
 
 earthly temple, which enshrined the moral law, 
 or ten commandments ; bat as relatively answering 
 to it. And if the one had a favourable aspect 
 towards Israel, much more the other ; at least, if 
 we may regard it as the symbol of that Divine 
 grace which will yet triumph over all their past 
 failure. And so, it is observable, the description 
 is not " the ark of the testament," the usual form 
 of expression, but " the ark of his testament," as 
 though to contrast God's absolute unconditional 
 covenant " I will " and " ye shall," with the 
 conditional covenant that could make nothing 
 perfect. Hence, also, the time is emphatically 
 noticed, when, corresponding to the difference 
 between these two covenants, the restoied Jews 
 shall say no more, " The ark of the covenant of 
 the Lord : neither shall it come to mind : neither 
 shall they visit it : neither shall it be magnified * 
 any more. At that time they shall call Jerusalem 
 the throne of the Lord ; and all the nations shall 
 be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to 
 Jerusalem." Jer. iii. 16, 17. When "the ark of 
 the covenant" was their boast, they were still 
 without any stable settlement in their land. But 
 now, as the fruit of God's " better covenant," they 
 shall be established in blessedness, of which their 
 festive capitol, honoured with the Divine presence, 
 shall be the index for all the world to behold. 
 See Psalm xlviii, 
 
 * See marginal reading. 
 
en. xii. 1 — 17.] interpreted. 185 
 
 And there were lightni7igs, and voices, and 
 thunderingSi and an earthquake, and great hail.] 
 These demonstrations, accompanying the exhi- 
 bition of the ark of God's covenant, as here 
 explained, obviously intimate, that amidst such 
 terrifying phenomena will God now plead with 
 the confederated enemies of Israel. Accordingly, 
 on the outpouring of the seventh vial, these very 
 phenomena are enumerated as attendant upon the 
 note of consummation. It is done : " And there 
 were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and 
 there was a great earthquake, such as was not 
 since men were upon the earth, so mighty an 
 
 earthquake, and so great And there fell 
 
 upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone 
 about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed 
 God because of the plague of the hail; for the j)lague 
 thereof was exceeding great." Ch. xvi. 17, 18, 21. 
 See also Isaiah xxix. 6 ; Psalm xviii. 12 ; and on 
 Chapter iv. 5. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Verses 1 — 17. 
 
 ] And there appeared a great wonder in heaven ; a woman 
 clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her 
 head a crown of twelve stars : 
 
 3 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained 
 to be delivered, 
 
186 THE APOCALYPSE [CPI. xii. 1 17. 
 
 3 Aud there appeared another wouder in heaven ; and behold 
 a great red dragon, having seven heads aud ten horns, and seven 
 crowns upon his heads. 
 
 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did 
 cast them to the earth : and the dragon stood before the woman 
 which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as 
 it was born. 
 
 5 And sIk; brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations 
 with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to 
 his throne. 
 
 C And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a 
 place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand 
 two hundred and threescore days. 
 
 7 Aud there was war in heaven : Michael and his angels fought 
 against the dragon ; and the dragon fought and his angels, 
 
 8 And prevailed not ; neither was their place found any more in 
 heaven. 
 
 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the 
 Devil, and Satan, which deceived the whole world : he was cast out 
 into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 
 
 10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven. Now is come 
 salvation, and strength, ajid the kingdom of our God, and the power 
 of his Christ : for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which 
 accused them before our God day and night. 
 
 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the 
 word of their testimony ; and they loved not their lives unto the 
 death. 
 
 12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. 
 Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea ! for the devil is 
 come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that 
 he hath but a short time. 
 
 13 Aud when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he 
 persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 
 
 14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, 
 that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is 
 jiourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of 
 the serpent. 
 
CIl. xii. 1 — IT.] INTERPRETED. 187 
 
 15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after 
 the woman, that he might cause her to he carried away of the flood. 
 
 16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her 
 mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of 
 his mouth. 
 
 17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to 
 make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the command- 
 ments of God, and have tlie testimony of Jesus Christ. 
 
 This chapter, and indeed the three following, 
 interrupt the strict chronological order of the 
 narrative introduced by the sounding of the 
 seventh trumpet — the signal, as already observed, 
 for the outpouring of the seven vials. So that this 
 portion of the book, is, so to speak, parenthetical — 
 the Spirit herein rehearsing, in detail, the events 
 of Jewish suffering and of Anti christian tyranny, 
 in Jerusalem, for the period just named. In fact, 
 a mere outline of the subject had been pursued 
 up to this point; and now there is a traversing 
 of the ground over again to supply further 
 information. The last verse, however, of chap. xi. 
 is manifestly designed as a link for the renewed 
 recital, in chapter xv. 5, to fit into, when this 
 collateral matter is disposed of. 
 
 Ver. 1. And there appeared a great wonder.^ 
 This means a symbol of weighty import. 
 
 Li heaven^ As we shall presently see, the 
 subject of this symbol (the Jewish people) properly 
 belongs to earth. But, as on earth, at the time 
 contemplated, the aspect of this people, to the eye 
 
188 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. xii. 1 — 17. 
 
 of sense, was very different fi'om that which they 
 had in the mind of God, and the object here is to 
 portray the latter ; therefore, the scene of the 
 vision is laid accordingly. Thus, at the very 
 outset, we have intimation that only faith in the 
 Divine promises could appreciate beforehand the 
 glorious position assigned to the daughter of 
 Zion. 
 
 A woman clothed loiili the sun, and the moon 
 under her feet.'] This is manifestly a symbol 
 of the Jewish nation ; that is, of Jerusalem, 
 glorified as she will yet be, and has been, from 
 the beginning, in the pur2)ose of God. Thus it is, 
 that, in Joseph's dream, his father, mother, and 
 brethren, (that is, including himself — the house 
 of Jacob with the twelve Patriarchs) are repre- 
 sented. See Gen. xxxvii. 9, 10 ; Cant. vi. 10. 
 
 Ver. 2. And she being with child, cried, 
 travailing in hirth, and pained to he delivered?] 
 The Jewish nation, pregnant with the hope of 
 their promised Messiah, might be thus fitly de- 
 scribed in reference to many periods of their 
 history. But the particular crisis here contem- 
 plated seems to be that of Messiah's advent. 
 Such was then the darkness of the heathen world, 
 and the abject thraldom of the Jewish people, 
 (for Judea was a Roman province,) that amongst 
 the faithful remnant who constituted the heirs 
 of the promise before God, the Psalmist's words 
 
CH. xii. 1 17.] INTERPRETED. 189 
 
 must have been often used : — " It is time for thee, 
 Lord, to work, for they have made void thy law." 
 Psahn cxix. 126. And it is on record, in the 
 Gospel, that, at the birth of our Lord, there were 
 those, in Jerusalem,who "looked for redemption,"* 
 and " waited for the consolation of Israel,"t and 
 that redemption and consolation was identified 
 with the birth of the virgin's son, according to the 
 gloAving language of Isaiah : " For unto us a child 
 is born, unto us a son is given, and the government 
 shall be upon his shoulder ; and his name shall 
 be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty 
 God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 
 Of the increase of his government and peace there 
 shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and 
 upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it 
 with judgment and with justice from henceforth 
 even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will 
 perform this." Isaiah ix. 6, 7, With the exercise of 
 faith, which this and numerous similar prophecies 
 were calculated to inspire in the faithful remnant, 
 we can easily conceive of their being fitly repre- 
 sented by the symbol before us of a travailing 
 woman. 
 
 The only point on which a difficulty is likely 
 to occur to the mind, lies, p)erhaps, in the 
 assignment of such a long past event as the first 
 advent, to an allusion occurring in the midst of 
 prophecies confessedly relating to the future. 
 
 ♦ Luke ii. 38. + Luke ii. 25. 
 
190 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xil. 1 17. 
 
 But, it is submitted, that for this a sufficient reason 
 is to be found in the design of the revealing Spirit; 
 that design being, as observed in a former part of 
 this work, to lay bare the root of Satan's enmity, 
 which is yet to be so fearfully exhibited against 
 the Jewish people. A retrogression of this kind, 
 in plain narrative, is of frequent occurrence. For 
 example, in the Evangelist's record of Herod's 
 apprehension concerning Jesus, that he was John 
 the Baptist risen from the dead, whom he had 
 beheaded, the Spirit pauses in his recital, and 
 goes back to explain how it was that Herod was 
 thus led to deal with one of whom he had stood 
 in some degree of awe. Thus comes in the story 
 of Herodias' quarrel against John ; and, at last, 
 how she artfully compassed his death by means of 
 her daughter's dancing in Herod's presence. Mark 
 vi. 14—28. 
 
 It is after this manner that, in the vision before 
 us, the prophetic rehearsal of the future persecution 
 of the Jewish people is interrupted for a moment, 
 to remind us of its original cause ; which is of course 
 described symbolically, for the sake of congruity 
 with the character of the entire prophecy. 
 
 Ver. 3. And there a2jpeared another wonder in 
 heaven.] A portentous exhibition similar to the 
 former. Its being in like manner seen " in heaven/^ 
 may denote that cognizance of the agency intended, 
 was only obvious to those who were enlightened 
 of God, that is, to the eye of faith ; or, it may 
 
CH. xii. 1 — IT.] INTERPRETED. ll)l 
 
 signify, as glancing at this agency from the 
 beginning, that it has had its seat, even as it has 
 still, in the supernal regions." See Ephe. vi. 12, 
 
 And behold a great red dragon^ By this symbol 
 is clearly intended " the Devil and Satan ; " 
 indeed these are the equivalent expressions of the 
 Spirit. See ver. 9. The colour red is ascribed to 
 him, perhaps, to suggest the idea of his blood- 
 thirstiness, his being " a murderer from the 
 beginning;"* or it may be rendered fiery, as 
 signifying the terrible aspect that he presents to 
 the beholder. 
 
 Having seven heads, and ten horns, and seven 
 crowns upo7i his heads.'] This monstrous com- 
 bination, it is remarkable, sums up the prominent 
 particulars of Daniel's four beasts, or kingdoms, 
 which are represented in chap. vii. of his prophecy. 
 The first beast, we read, " was like a lion." ver. 4. 
 Here is one head. The second was "like to a bear." 
 ver. 5. This makes two heads. Then the third 
 was " like a leopard,". . . . which " had also four 
 heads." ver. 6. This added to the preceding, 
 exhibits six heads. And the complement of the 
 remaining head required to make the seven, is 
 yielded by the description of the fourth beast, 
 which of course had one head ; and this beast, 
 moreover, furnishes the completion of the picture, 
 lor he is described as having " ten horns.''' Thus 
 these four bestial empires, which are yet to play 
 
 * Joliu \iii. 44. 
 
192 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xii. 1 IT. 
 
 their part upon the earth, will be but an organized 
 
 manifestation of the diabolical energy of Satan, 
 
 the god of this world ; and though this precise 
 
 form of opposition to the kingdom of God was not 
 
 at once assumed by him at his fall, or developed 
 
 at the time of the first advent, to which the vision 
 
 points; yet was Satan, we can conceive, always 
 
 identified with it in the Divine mind ; and an 
 
 earnest of it was significantly displayed when the 
 
 Eoman empire essayed its abortive eiForts against 
 
 the infant Messiah. Be it observed, also, that that 
 
 empire (related in like manner to three preceding 
 
 ones) was, in that age, the great engine of Satan's 
 
 power, rehearsing, as it were, its yet future 
 
 operations when it shall be revived. Thus, as the 
 
 one party in the scene, the Jewish people, are 
 
 contemplated in the aspect of consummated glory 
 
 with which the prophetic w^ord invests them ; so it 
 
 is with Satan, he is represented as contending with 
 
 them in the full possession of those resources which 
 
 he will eventually employ. But still, we are not to 
 
 overlook that, amidst all these resources, it is to this 
 
 great enemy of God, personally, the vision before 
 
 us directs our attention ; for it is remarkable, that 
 
 here the dragon's seven heads wear the crowms ; 
 
 whereas, when his concerted universal empire 
 
 comes to be represented in the person of the 
 
 Antichrist, (see ch. xiii. 2) the crowns are upon 
 
 the symbolic Itorns of the latter. 
 
CII. xii. 1 17.] INTERPRETED. 193 
 
 Ver. 4. And his tail drew the third part of the 
 stars of heai'efz, and did cast them to the earth.] 
 This additional representation seems to belong to 
 the further history of the Devil ; and is, perhaps, 
 designed to remind us of his angels, who, in 
 various other allusions of Scripture, are associated 
 with him. They may well be depicted as fallen 
 stars involved in the catastrophe of their great 
 leader, which, though it has not yet reached the 
 stage of precipitation to the earth, is eventually 
 to do so ; and the purport of a following vision is 
 to rehearse this very scene. See ver. 9. 
 
 On this point, the reader will remember that 
 already, in this book,* the symbol of a fallen star 
 has been employed to denote an evil angel, so 
 that a plain precedent is laid for the adoption of 
 the idea here. A difficulty in assenting to it will, 
 no doubt, be suggested from the confessedly 
 different import of the apparently parallel pro- 
 phecy of Daniel, where a formidable power is 
 spoken of as " waxing great, even to (or rather 
 against) the host of heaven," and casting " down 
 some of the host and of the stars to the ground, 
 and stamping upon them." Dan. viii. 10. But this 
 latter power is manifestly that of the Antichrist, 
 whose appearance on the stage is subsequent to 
 the action in question of the dragon ; for, it is 
 not until the dragon is cast out of heaven that he 
 
 Chap. ix. 1. 
 VOL. II. — 9. K 
 
194 THE APOCALYPSE [cil. xii. 1 17. 
 
 proceeds to employ the Antichrist as his agent ; 
 (see Rev. xiii.), whose actings, announced in the 
 foregoing words of Daniel, relate, perhaps, to his 
 success against the dignitaries of the restored 
 temple-worship at Jerusalem : a solution somewhat 
 confirmed not only by the context, but especially 
 by ver. 12, where the figure of speech is dropped, 
 and the recital is simply that an host (i. e. an army 
 or power) was given him against the daily 
 sacrifice by reason of transgression, and " it cafit 
 doivn the truth to the ground, and it practised, 
 and prospered." 
 
 And the dragon stood before the woman lohich 
 teas ready to he delivered, for to devour her child 
 as soon as it was horn.] We can easily imagine 
 this to have been the posture and design of 
 Satan from the beginning, — lying in wait for the 
 promised Seed of the woman, who was also to be 
 the hope of the Jewish nation. Accordingly, 
 no sooner was Messiah born into the world, 
 than, through the instrumentality of Herod, who 
 slaughtered the children of Bethlehem, did Satan 
 seek to compass his object. Nor did he intermit 
 his pursuit of it, we may be assured, throughout 
 our Lord's career. To this end was directed at 
 least one of the temptations in the Avilderness ; 
 and, as we can apprehend, the attempt of the 
 people of Nazareth upon the life of Jesus. 
 Luke iv. 28, 29. It is probable, also, the same 
 
CH. xii. 1 17.] INTERPRETED. 195 
 
 was designed by the sudden tempest which 
 agitated the sea of Tiberias, when the ship in 
 which the beloved of the Father lay asleep was 
 well-nigh sinking. Mark iv. 37 — 41. For it is 
 remarkable that when our Lord woke up, on 
 the occasion, at the call of the disciples, and 
 interposed His mighty power, " He rebuked the 
 wind, and said unto the sea. Peace, he stilV^ — 
 all which words of authority imply that some 
 personal agent was at work, exciting adversely 
 these elements of nature. See Matt. xvii. 18 ; 
 Luke xviii. o9 ; Matt. xxii. 34. 
 
 Ver. 5. And she brought forth a man child^ 
 This seems clearly to relate to the birth of our 
 blessed Lord, which event, as already observed, 
 was celebrated beforehand by Isaiah, as not only 
 to the Virgin's honor, but as the consummation 
 of Jewish hope at large. See Isaiah vii. 14; ix. 6. 
 
 Moreover, it is worthy of remark, that, by 
 the designation of child, our Lord is elsewhere 
 characterized by the Spirit even in reference to 
 the maturity of his manhood : " For of a truth 
 against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast 
 anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with 
 the Gentiles, and the jDcople of Israel, were 
 gathered together." Acts iv. 27. 
 
 Who was to, rule {is about to rule) all 7iations 
 with a rod of iron.] This assigned course of 
 action, predicated of the man-child, exactly accords 
 k2 
 
196 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xii. 1 IT. 
 
 Avith the j^rophecy of the second Psahn, wherein 
 Jehovah addresses the Son as follows : " Ask of 
 me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine 
 inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth 
 for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with 
 a rod of iron ; thou shalt dash them in pieces like 
 a potter's vessel." Psalm ii. 8, 9. This stern 
 administration, however, of the kingly office of 
 our Lord will but initiate liis reign of peace ; 
 just as in the double historical type, constituted 
 of David and Solomon, the career of the one as 
 the man of war was introductory to the benignant 
 sway of the other. 
 
 Association with our Lord, in this exercise of 
 power over the nations, the reader will remember, 
 is one subject of promise to the martyred witnesses 
 of the seven Churches. See vol. i., p. 175. 
 
 And her child was caught up unto God, and 
 to his throne^ In harmony with the foregoing 
 interpretation of the vision, we cannot doubt 
 that this refers to our Lord's ascension. — his being 
 received up into heaven, and sitting at the right 
 hand of God, as described in the Gospel by 
 St. Mark, ch. xvi. 19. See also Acts i. 9 — 11 ; 
 ii.33; iii. 21. Heb. i. 3. 
 
 Ver. 6. A7id the loonian fled into the wilde?mess.] 
 The obvious meaning of this, pursuing the inter- 
 pretation already advanced, is that a large body 
 of the Jewish people, a principal nucleus of the 
 
CH. xii. I- -IT.] INTERPRETED. 197 
 
 future liappy nation, having had to forsake the 
 city and land of their fathers, to which they are 
 yet to returnj will betake themselves for refuge 
 to the wilderness or mountainous regions around. 
 The reason of their flight hovv^ever, indicated by 
 the context already considered, is not here stated, 
 but simply the fact. The former is presently 
 given in ver. 13, in connexion with the account 
 of Satan's desperate resistance to his coming 
 destiny. 
 
 The point, in this interpretation, on which 
 perhaps the reader will conceive a grave objection 
 to exist, is the sudden transition to be admitted 
 from the period of the first advent to that of 
 the second ; the whole of the present dispensation 
 being taken no account of. But, on reflection, 
 this cannot constitute a difficulty ; for, viewing 
 the book, — as from the outset we have seen reason 
 to do, — namely, as a renewal of the thread of 
 Old Testament prophecy, it is only in accordance 
 with the tenor of the latter, that the interval in 
 cjuestion should be omitted.* And let us not 
 forget that however important such interval may 
 be esteemed in human judgment ; however vast 
 and momentous we may conceive its events to be ; 
 yet, as the time of Israel's blindness it is called 
 of God " a small moment." Isaiah liv. 7. Not, 
 
 * See lutrodnctory Essay -" Apocalyptic Interpretation." 
 Pages 19—24, :jO— D-2, 54. 
 
198 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xii. 1 17. 
 
 indeed, that the gathering of the Church, Avhich 
 is now going on_, was not inckided ; yea, and 
 specially, in the purpose of God ; nor as though 
 it has not already occupied a considerable period 
 of the world's history ; but this was " a mystery 
 hid in God,"* as the Apostle speaks, from the 
 foundation of the world, and how soon it might 
 close was always left in suspense. 
 
 That, in the recital of this vision^ therefore, all 
 allusion to the present dispensation should be 
 omitted, and the Spirit, at once, proceed (after 
 reverting to Messiah's birth and exaltation) with 
 the crisis of Jewish experience yet to come, 
 ought not to surprise us, but rather be com- 
 mended to us, as analogous to the other prophetic 
 Scriptures. 
 
 Here let us reflect, for a moment, on what is 
 recorded concerning Israel in former days. Is it 
 not a fact that when they were brought out of 
 Egypt, God led them into the wilderness ; and 
 miraculously fed and sustained them there for 
 forty years ? This is a piece of history concerning 
 the Jewish people, furnished to us in all its 
 minutest features. And that these things are 
 types, not only of the redemption of the Church, 
 but also, and more especially, of the experience 
 of the same peoj)le yet to be realized in the 
 eventful period of the last days, cannot be 
 * Ephes. iii. 9. 
 
CH. xii. 1 IT.J INTEIiPRETED. 199 
 
 doubted, written as that experience is in such 
 similar language. ^lay not, in like manner, 
 Elijah's sojourn in the wilderness, when he fled 
 from the face of Jezebel, rehearse what is here 
 predicted, looking at the fugitives, in question, 
 as a remnant of faithful ones, persecuted by the 
 Antichrist, who is now running his career ? And 
 what clearly confirms this position is our Lord's 
 prophecy on the Mount, wherein, after setting 
 forth the evil to come upon Jerusalem, in its 
 being compassed with armies, he makes this the 
 signal for flight from the devoted city : — " Then 
 let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains ; 
 and let them which are in the midst of it depart 
 out ; and let not them that are in the countries 
 enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, 
 that all things which are written may be fulfilled." 
 Luke xxi. 21, 22.* In the Prophet Ezekiel, also, 
 
 * In the parallel passage in St. Matthew's Gospel, the signal 
 for flight is varied. It is the beholding the abomination of 
 desolation standing in tlie holy place. But we can easily conceive 
 this to be contemporaneous with the siege* of the city; and that 
 when the enemy without makes his assault, his partisans within 
 "will proceed to their extremity of impiety and j)rofaueuess. And 
 that such will be the plan of procedure is indicated by the 
 Prophet Daniel : "He (the Antichrist) shall even return, and 
 shall Lave intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. 
 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the 
 sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, 
 and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. 
 Pan. 3fi. xxs. Oi. See also Ezek, vii. '22, 
 
200 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xii. 1 17. 
 
 the character of this escaped remnant seems to be 
 recited : " But they that escape of them shall 
 escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves 
 of the valleys, all of them mourning, eveiy one 
 for his iniquity." Ezek. vii. 16. 
 
 To see the identity of import, as already hinted, 
 between " the mountains," and " the wilderness," 
 it is only necessary to compare Luke i. o9, with 
 ver. 80. In the former, the birthplace of John 
 the Baptist is denominated " the hill country y" 
 and, in the latter, the expression employed for 
 the same locality is " the deserts" — the same 
 word in the original as " wilderness," only in the 
 plural number. 
 
 Where she hath a place prepared of God.] 
 Thus, as in the case of Elijah, this remnant have 
 an asylum provided for them in the wilderness. 
 !Nor are we without notice elsewhere of the 
 particular region which will thus prove hospitable 
 to them. For, in the Prophet Isaiah, we have 
 the following record touching their benefactors : — 
 " The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought 
 water to him that was thirsty, they prevented 
 with their bread him that fled. For they fled 
 from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from 
 the bent bow, and from the grievousness of 
 war."* Isaiah xxi. 14, 15. Now the land of Tema 
 
 * Is not this the key to the right uuderstandiug of the judgment 
 of the nations in the Gospel of St. Matthew ? Identifying himself 
 
CH. xii. 1 17.] INTERPRETED. 201 
 
 is situated in Arabia Deserta, and that it is in 
 this direction the persecuted Jews will flee from 
 Jerusalem, in their coming hour of tribulation, 
 is further indicated by what we read in chap. xvi. 
 of the same Prophet, where — after a prediction 
 which I incline to believe, with a modern 
 Translator, ought to be rendered thus : — " It shall 
 be that as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, 
 so my daughters, O Moab, shall be at the fords 
 of Arnon,"t referring to the fugitive daughters 
 of Zion — Moab is charged to afford them hospitable 
 shelter. " Take counsel, execute judgment ; make 
 thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noon-day ; 
 hide the outcasts ; bewray not him that wandereth. 
 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab ; be thou 
 a covert to them from the face of the sjDoiler : 
 for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, 
 the oppressors are consumed out of the laud." 
 Isaiah xvi. 3, 4. It does not appear, indeed, that 
 the Moabites of this period, any more than their 
 ancestors of old, when Israel came out of Egypt, 
 render the favor thus bespoken at their hands. 
 On the contrary, it seems, from numerous passages, 
 
 with the persecuted remuant before us, as his brethreu, the Lord 
 Jesus, sitting upon the throne of his glory, will say to the nations 
 oil his right hand : " I was an huugred, and ye gave me meat ; 
 
 I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink Verily I say unto you, 
 
 Inasmuch as ye have, done it unto one of the least of these my 
 brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matt. xxv. 35 — iO. 
 
 + Govett's Isaiah. 
 
 k8 
 
202 THE APOCALYPSE [CPI. xii. 1 — IT. 
 
 that tliey will combine with other enemies, 
 especially their neighbours, the Edomites and 
 Ammonites, to harass and molest the afflicted 
 fugitives.* Accordingly, fearfal retribution will 
 be inflicted on these several nations at the hands 
 of Israel, when they come into the ascendant. 
 Isaiah xi. 14 ; xxv. 10. But it is plain, from the 
 Scriptures adduced, that the route of the suffering 
 Jews will lie through these countries on their way 
 to Arabia. And as Teman, — whose inhabitants 
 we have seen are to prove benefactors to Israel, — 
 is certainly situated in that region, so its great 
 wilderness (that of Arabia) we may not doubt to 
 be the destined place of safety into which the 
 symbolic woman, before us, flees. 
 
 That they should feed her there^ That there 
 Avill be a renewal of miracle in the sustentation 
 of the remnant in question is sufliciently indicated 
 by the context ; but this is not incompatible with 
 their also receiving the ministrations of human 
 kindness in conformity with the typical experience 
 of Elijah in like circumstances, who, after being 
 fed miraculously by the ravens, was then sustained 
 by the Avidow^ of Zarephath ; and so it is implied 
 here that the people among whom the remnant are 
 scattered will fall in with the Divine purpose, — 
 " that they should feed her." 
 
 * Psalm Ixxxiii. ; Jer. xlviii. 25 — 27 ; Zepb. ii. 8. 
 
CH. xii. 1 IT.] IXTERPRETED. 203 
 
 A thousand two hundred and threescore d:iys.] 
 This is manifestly parallel with, the period daring 
 which the Witnesses prophecy in Jerasaleni, and 
 the hostile nations infest the holy city. After its 
 capture, no egress, we can conceive, will be allowed 
 to the inhabitants who have neglected, or been 
 unable to profit by, the appointed signal for flight ; 
 and they accordingly will have to endure the 
 brunt of Antichristian tyranny. Perhaps that cry 
 in the 55th Psalm : " Oh that I had wings like a 
 dove ! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. 
 Lo, then would I wander far ofl", and remain in 
 the wilderness," (ver. 6,7,) sets forth the mourning 
 accents of some of them longing to share in the 
 wilderness the circumstances of their more favoured 
 brethren. And here we learn the security of those 
 brethren for the definite time in question. 
 
 Ver. 7. And there was war inheav en. 1 The previous 
 part of the chapter has represented the hatred of 
 the dragon towards the oiFspring of the woman — 
 the Lord Jesus ; and then the transferral of that 
 hatred to the woman herself — the Jewish people. 
 But, hereupon, the Spirit makes another digression 
 to tell us of a preliminary event which will pre- 
 cipitate Satan's measures of hostility, namely, his 
 expulsion from heaven, which he still infests with 
 his presence ; for he is not yet cast out from 
 thence. Accordingly, as we read of his having 
 access to the heavenly courts in the time of the 
 
S04 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xil. 1 17. 
 
 patriarch Job ; so ive are warned, as the Church 
 of God, that there is the centre of his agency 
 now : — " We wrestle not against flesh and blood, 
 but against principalities, against powers, against 
 the rulers of the darkness of this Avorld, against 
 wicked spirits in heavenly places." (Ephes.vi. 12, 
 marg. reading.) Nor will Satan and his hosts 
 suffer themselves to be deposed from their place 
 of ascendancy without conflict with the armies of 
 Jehovah. The heavenly regions, therefore, will 
 be the scene of an awful collision between the 
 powers of light and darkness. 
 
 Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, 
 and the dragon fought and his angels^ Here the 
 contending parties are formally defined. But we 
 also learn, that the aggression will commence on 
 the side of God's holy champions ; the leader of 
 whom is named Michael ; the same, doubtless, 
 alluded to under the denomination of Archangel 
 in Jude, ver. 9 ; and also in the Prophet Daniel, 
 where we read : " And at that time shall Michael 
 stand up, the great prince which standeth for the 
 children of thy people ; and there shall be a time 
 of trouble, such as never was since there was a 
 nation even to thett same time : and at that time 
 thy people shall be delivered, eveiy one that shall 
 be found written in the book." Dan. xii. 1. As the 
 chief of those heavenly beings that " excel in 
 strength," it would thus appear, that as he was 
 
CH. xli, 1 — 17.] INTERPRETED. 205 
 
 commissioned of old to withstand Satan ; so he 
 will be again in the latter day, and in behalf of 
 the Jews — Daniel's people. Here, however, we 
 may consider the prerogative of the Church of 
 this dispensation to be also contemplated, according 
 to the assurance given them by the Apostle : — 
 " The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your 
 feet shortly.'' Rom. xvi. 20. This would seem to 
 indicate that at the period of war in heaven, the 
 translation of the saints is to take place ; and, 
 indeed, such event may initiate this war ; for the 
 heavens cannot Avell harbour two such opposing 
 forces : and, at this due season, Michael and his 
 angels may be the executive employed by the 
 glorified Church to effect the work of expulsion. 
 Their acting thus, would only be in accordance 
 with their province of ^' ministering spirits sent 
 forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of 
 salvation." Heb. i. 14. 
 
 Ver. 8. A?id prevailed not, neither ivas their 
 place found any more in heaven.'] Thus the 
 resistance of Satan proves abortive. He cannot 
 any longer maintain his lodgment in the heavenly 
 places ; and this is the prelude to his undergoing 
 the full execution of the Divine judgment, when 
 he exhausts the short interval now and again to be 
 allotted him on the earth. 
 
 Ver. 9. Arid the great dragon v:as cast out^ 
 Thus the formal issue of the contest is summed up. 
 Satan is ejected from the heavens. 
 
S06 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xii. 1 — 17. 
 
 Again the reader is reminded that this is a vision 
 of the future, and not a rehearsal of the past, 
 according to the tradition derived from Milton, the 
 poet. Nor, as has been already observed,* do the 
 texts (2 Pet. ii. 4 ; Jude 6) adduced to eke out 
 such tradition, apply to the subject here treated ; 
 for the angels therein referred to are a different 
 class altogether to the Devil and his angels. 
 
 That old serpent called the Devil and Satan, 
 which deceiveth the lohole world.'] Thus the enemy 
 in question is clearly identified. He is the same 
 that abode not in the truth, according to the 
 emjohatic words of our Lord, (John viii. 44) ,* the 
 same that tempted our first parents in the garden, 
 and has been, and shall be, the deceiver of man- 
 kind unto the end. 
 
 He was cast out into the earth, and his angels 
 were cast out with him.] This reiterated recital of 
 the event shows the interest that attaches to it, in 
 the mind of God ; and it should have the same to 
 us, as the beginning of creation's actual redemj^tion. 
 The inclusion here of his angels, in this catastrophe 
 affecting Satan himself, confirms the view already 
 advanced of the import of the dragon's tail drawing 
 the third part of the stars of heaven, and casting 
 them to the earth. See on ver. 4. 
 
 Ver. 10. Atid I heard a loud voice saying in 
 heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and 
 
 * See pp. 88, 43, and vol. i. 121— 1 2;]. 
 
CH. xii. 1 17.] INTERPRETED. 207 
 
 the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ.] 
 That^ in this celebration of praise, the glorified 
 saints who are now translated to the heavens, take 
 a leading part, cannot be doubted ; and well may 
 they raise such triumphant hymn, rehearsing, as it 
 does, the no longer delayed achievements of their 
 glorious Head, to which they shall have borne 
 patient testimony in the days of their pilgrimage. 
 Salvatiofi, the fruit, not simply of grace, but of 
 all-prevailing strength, subjugating every enemy; 
 the long promised kingdom of God, at length 
 established by the power of his Christ ; these 
 consequences of Satan's precipitation from heaven 
 cannot be descried by the saints, as appearing in per- 
 spective, without eliciting their burst of adoration. 
 The process of actual redemption having com- 
 menced, they rejoice in its consummation. 
 
 For the accuser of our brethren is cast doion, 
 which accused them before our God day and night,'] 
 This shows us that in the heavenly choir's con- 
 tenq^lation of the happy issues of Satan's downfal, 
 its bearing upon a particular party, called their 
 "brethren," is especially regarded. Who these 
 brethren are, is therefore a question which cannot 
 be overlooked by the careful reader. 
 
 And here the scene rehearsed in Zechariah iii. 
 may contribute to us some information in reply : 
 " And he shewed me Joshua the High Priest 
 standino- before the an"-el of the Lord, and Satan 
 
208 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xil. 1 17. 
 
 standing at his right hand to resist him. And the 
 Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, 
 O Satan ; even the Lord that hath chosen 
 Jerusalem rebuke thee : is not this a brand 
 plucked out of the fire?" (ver. 1. 2.) Thus the 
 Jewish people, on their return from Babylon, 
 represented by Joshua their High Priest, are the 
 objects of Satan's malevolence, and the place 
 of the accuser is assigned to him — "the right 
 hand." Nor has he been deposed from it since. 
 Accordingly, when the time draweth nigh for their 
 final restoration, we can easily imagine that their 
 great adversary, who has never intermitted his 
 avocation as accuser, will be then employed in 
 it. Hence, we may conclude that the hrethren in 
 this vision are the Jewish people, to whom the 
 honor of witnessing to God upon the earth, reverts 
 after Gentile failure, when the present dispensation 
 ends in the rapture of the elect. And, no doubt, 
 the seven Churches in Asia, Jewish gatherings as 
 we have seen* — distinct from the other remnants 
 of the nation — who will sustain the full shock of 
 Antichristian malice and persecution, are specially 
 included. 
 
 Of these parties, Satan is here contcm2:>lated 
 as the accuser, as he is now of the Church, and 
 was of old of God's servant, Job. (ch. i. 6 — 12.) 
 Oh, how blessed that all who are thus assailed 
 
 * See vol. i. pp. 44 — 4G. 
 
CH. xii. 1 — 17.] INTERPRETED. 209 
 
 have ill Christ a still more vigilant advocate ! 
 Withstanding the adversary, hoAvever, is not enough 
 for showing fo]-th the Divine resources, and so he 
 must altogether be expelled the heavenly courts, 
 with no alternative to resort to against the objects 
 of his malice, but open violence ; and this, as it is 
 presently added, only for a brief moment. All 
 these considerations seem to suggest the notes of 
 triumph here uttered over the catastrophe of 
 Satan. 
 
 Ver. 11. And they overcame Mm.'] This is one 
 index to the inclusion amongst "the brethren" just 
 named, of the members of the seven Churches ; 
 especially the martyred portion of them — for these 
 latter are addressed as overcomers — " to him that 
 overcomethr The past tense " overcame^'' which 
 is here used, merely signifies that the triumph 
 in question is as vividly before the eyes of 
 the celestial choir, as thou<5h it were already 
 achieved — the intervening perspective being 
 passed over in their inspired survey of the 
 happy issue. 
 
 By the hlood of the Lamb.] This signifies their 
 exercise of faith upon the Son of God — that faith 
 having especial respect to His precious blood- 
 shedding — the great means of redemption from 
 sin and all its consequences. Doubtless, there is 
 an allusion in these words to Israel's deliverance 
 of old from Egyptian bondage, when the sprinkled 
 
210 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. xii. 1 — 17. 
 
 blood of the Paschal Lamb averted the stroke of 
 the destroying angel, and opened the way, in right- 
 eousness, for acts of Divine power against their 
 enemies. Nor will this typical experience of their 
 forefathers, we can conceive, be recollected by 
 these witnesses for God, without inspiring in their 
 breasts a responsive hope as to the issue of their 
 present trials. They will read therein, not of mere 
 safety awaiting them, but of glorious triumph, — 
 and that from the blood of the Lamb accrues not 
 only salvation, but all the preferments of Messiah's 
 kingdom ; just as it is, eventually, by that precious 
 blood that God will reconcile all things unto 
 Himself, whether they be things on earth or things 
 in heaven. Children of God ! Doth not your eternal 
 and exceeding weight of glory spring from the 
 same source ? How continually then ought you to 
 have it in remembrance — you, the especial sample 
 of its virtue ; now, in your rich experience as sons 
 in the Father's house ; and presently to be acknow- 
 ledged heirs of the glory of the great First-born, 
 Kings and Priests with Him unto God His Father! 
 And by the word of Ms testimo?iy.] This is a 
 suitable descri]3tion for the word of God in general. 
 But more esj^ecially for the word of prophecy — 
 according to the definition — " the testimony of 
 Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Ch. xix. 10. 
 Even more specifically may this title be given to 
 the book before us; for, "the testimony of Jesus," 
 
CH. xii. 1 IT.] INTERPRETED. 211 
 
 an expression which occurs herein several times, 
 is resolved (as we have seen in ch. i. 2) into these 
 very visions — " the things which John saio." But 
 whether the enlarged or limited import of this 
 clause be adopted, the truth is equally conveyed, 
 that as the hope of these saints — their '* helmet " 
 in the hour of conflict — is derived from the con- 
 templation of the blood of the Lamb, so the 
 written word which testifies to it shall be precious 
 to them ; " the sword of the Spirit," as it is called 
 elsewhere. Ephes. vi. 17. 
 
 A?td they loved not their lives unto the death."] 
 This clearly indicates that the saints in question 
 will be martyrs, sealing their testimony with their 
 blood. And, so we are furnished with another 
 increment of evidence touching their probable 
 identity with them that overcome of the seven 
 Churches, and to whom such animating promises 
 are addressed. 
 
 Ver. 12. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens , and ye 
 that dwell in them^ The heavens being now rid 
 of the Arch-Fiend and his hosts, the hymn before 
 lis calls on them to rejoice, just as at the advent 
 of Christ, a similar call is addressed to creation at 
 large : — " Let the heavens rejoice, and let the 
 earth be glad ; let the sea roar, and the fulness 
 thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is 
 therein; then shall all the trees of the wood 
 rejoice before the Lord : for he cometh, for he 
 
212 THE APOCALYPSE [CR. xii. 1 17. 
 
 Cometh to judge the earth : he shall judge the 
 world with righteousness, and the people with 
 his truth." Psalm xcvi. 11 — 13. But who are 
 they, it maybe asked, that " dwelV^ (or tabernacle) 
 in the heavens ; for such is the force of the word ? 
 Of course, from this description, we may not 
 exclude the myriads of holy angels which throng 
 the courts of the Divine presence. But, as at 
 this time the Lord Jesus is on his way to the 
 earth, and the saints of this and past dispensations, 
 as we have seen from chapter iv., have beeii 
 raised and translated to meet him, we may rather 
 conclude that they are the parties principally 
 intended, and as they shall be in the cloudy 
 pavilion which will enfold their returning Lord, 
 the position " tabernacling in hcaijen^^ may well 
 be ascribed to them. Indeed, it may be in 
 order to their occupation of this assigned position, 
 that Satan and his angels, the wicked spirits 
 that now infest the heavens, are cast out — 
 scattered like the shades of darkness before the 
 rising sun. 
 
 Woe {or alas !) to the inJiahiters of the earthy 
 and of the sea.'] Thus, the event which gives joy 
 to the inhabitants of heaven is pregnant with 
 alarm to mankind below, — and it would appear, 
 from the expressions used, that the whole compass 
 of the globe, both its inland and maritime regions, 
 will be exposed to the distressing consequences. 
 
CH. xii. 1 17.] INTERPRETED. 213 
 
 For the devil is come down unto you, having 
 great lorath, because he hnoioeth that he hath hut a 
 short time.] Here the cause of alarm to mankind 
 is expressly assigned — even Satan's ejection to 
 the earth, whereto, being deprived of his vantage 
 ground in the heavens, his pernicious agency 
 is henceforth to be limited. And because of his 
 consciousness of the short career that remains 
 to him, (probably only seven years, the last of 
 the seventy hebdomads of Daniel, wherein the 
 Antichrist runs his course,) he will labour to fill 
 up the time with proportionate malice. 
 
 Thus, it must be admitted that the great 
 development of Satanic rage on the earth against 
 the cause of Christ is yet to come ; and to meet it 
 will, doubtless, set in that dispensation of the 
 Lord's day, or, day of the Lord, some of whose 
 events we have already considered. Moreover, 
 participation in the dreadful conflict of such crisis 
 awaits not the saints of God now — their blessed 
 hope being to be gathered to Jesus previously. 
 Lideed, it is this event, as we can easily conceive, 
 which, in combination with Satan's desperate 
 malignity, will precipitate the great apostacy of 
 the last days — for, then, the salt of the earth 
 will be removed, and the leaven of evil be 
 comparatively unrestrained. But, still, although 
 the fearful consummation is future, it now casts 
 its shadows before on our times; and the whole 
 
214 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xii. 1 IT. 
 
 of our dispensation is, therefore, emphatically 
 called " the evil day,'*' in reference to which 
 we are exhorted to take unto ourselves '^the 
 whole armour of God." Ephes. vi. 13. And, 
 surely, the signs of the times are sufficiently 
 ominous to put the Church on the alert. The 
 crater of infidelity and revolution has opened, and 
 the lava is overflowing far and wide, out of which 
 any form of evil may be aj^prehended to evolve. 
 At all events, the principles are working, as, 
 indeed, they have been, from the beginning, 
 wherefrom the ultimate masterpiece of Satan 
 will be composed ; and in the light of that 
 masterpiece, which this book discloses, they must 
 be the better discerned. 
 
 Let it not be in vain, then, that we are con- 
 versant with these things — but, with consciences 
 sprinkled from sin by the precious blood of 
 Christ, let us walk with him in holy obedience 
 and intelligence of his thoughts and ways ; 
 realizing that, at what time we know not, he 
 may gather us unto himself. And looking for 
 this blessed hope we shall be ready for all else 
 that may intervene, whether persecution and 
 reproach, the spoiling of all our earthly treasure, 
 or departure from the body. Nothing can 
 disturb him who enters into God's own rest, 
 Jesus, " the resurrection and the life." 
 
 Ver. 13. And whe7i the dragon saw that he 
 
CH. xii. 1 IT.] INTERPRETED. 215 
 
 was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the looman 
 which brought forth the man-child.'\ Here is the 
 explicit recital of whence the persecution of the 
 Jewish people proceeds. It had been implied 
 that the dragon was the author of it by the 
 fact of the woman's flight being recorded in 
 immediate sequence with the description of his 
 devouring posture towards her offspring ; but 
 noWj the information is added that his ejection 
 from heaven was a preliminary occurrence, as 
 though resentment for this were the proximate 
 incentive to his malice. 
 
 Ver. 14. A7id to the woman xoere given tioo 
 wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the 
 loilderness, into her place, where she is nourished 
 for a time, and times, and half a time, from the 
 face of the serpent?^ Thus, the Spirit having 
 resumed his account of Jewish suffering at the 
 hands of Satan, proceeds to rehearse the subject 
 with more precise detail. The supplementary 
 information, now furnished, relates first to the 
 supernatural aid by which the distressed remnant 
 will be helped in their flight. In verse 6, this 
 particular was not mentioned. The figure em- 
 ployed to express it now, suggests that there will 
 be a renewal on the occasion, of the experience of 
 their fathers when they fled from the face of 
 Pharaoh in Egypt — a type of the oppressor in 
 the last days. For, recounting that memorable 
 
216 THE APOCALYPSE [CII. xii. 1 17. 
 
 event afterwards, by the mouth of Moses, the 
 Lord says to Israel : — " Ye have seen what I did 
 unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on 
 eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself." 
 Exodus xix. 4. The emblem probably denotes 
 that the Exodus from Egypt was accomplished 
 with the celerity and ease proper to the flight of 
 the king of the forest ; Jehovah, also, in the 
 pillar of cloud and of fire, like this noble bird in 
 convoying her young, interposing himself between 
 Israel and their pursuers. Thus, then, we may 
 expect it will prove again, in the coming exigency 
 of this same people. With a high hand, and an 
 outstretched arm, will the Lord protect and guide 
 them to the place of their sojourning in the 
 wilderness. 
 
 Again : the information here is more precise 
 as to the succour to be enjoyed by these exiles, 
 in their otherwise inhospitable retirement. The 
 woman will be nourished there from the face of 
 the serpent. Moreover, the duration of the period 
 in question is now expressed differently from 
 what it is in the former verse. There, it was 
 given in days (1260 days) corresponding with 
 the reckoning of the Witnesses prophesying in 
 Jerusalem, as though to intimate the sympathizing 
 association of both these parties imder diverse 
 experience. Here, it is given after the reckoning 
 which occurs in Daniel relative to the oppression 
 
CH. Xii. 1 17.] INTERPRETED. 217 
 
 of the Antichrist, (Dan. vii. 25 ; xii. 7,) in order, 
 perhaps, to our identification of the two periods, 
 and to hint that the great patron of such oppression 
 is Satan ; whose denomination is further varied to 
 that of " Serpent," because of the machinations 
 which he will resort to in the case of this escaped 
 remnant, simultaneously with the open violence 
 that he will practice against their less favoured 
 brethren in the land. 
 
 Ver. 15. And the serpent cast out of his motith 
 water as a Jlood, after the looman, that he might 
 cause her to he carried away of the flood.'] From 
 the name, serpent, still continued to Satan, we may 
 conclude that the working here ascribed to him is, 
 in some way, of an insidious character; and it may 
 consist in this, that it will not be seen to emanate 
 from him. but will be diss^uised under the agencv 
 which he employs. And such agency may be, 
 literally, a flood of water, whereby Satan will seek 
 to inundate the region traversed by the escaped 
 Jewish remnant. But, perhaps, " waters " here are 
 symbolical of hostile levies of men, who shall be 
 excited to pursue the poor fugitives. This sup- 
 position derives probability from the undoubted 
 symbolical use of the term elsewhere. For example, 
 in Psalm lxix,we read of "waters coming in" unto 
 the Psalmist's soul, and of '' floods overflowing" 
 him; and, in the following verse, the allusion is 
 
 VOL. II. — 10. L 
 
218 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xii. 1 17. 
 
 explained by a reference to the hostility of the 
 wicked ; — *' They that hate me without a cause are 
 more than the hairs of mine head." Ver. 1 — 4. See 
 also Psalm Ixxxviii. 17. Again, in Psalm cxxiv, — 
 and this, probably, is the very language of the 
 remnant before us, on a review of their deliverance 
 on this precise occasion : — " If it had not been the 
 Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say ; 
 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, 
 when men rose up against us : then they had 
 swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was 
 kindled against us : then the waters had over- 
 whelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul." 
 Ver. 1—4. 
 
 Ver. 16. A9id the earth helped the woman, and 
 the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the 
 flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth,^ This 
 shews the means by which deliverance from the 
 foregoing device of Satan will be accomplished. 
 And if we conclude, as it appears from the last 
 inference adduced we ought, that they are not 
 literal waters that are intended, but the pursuing 
 hosts of Antichrist, who receive their persecuting 
 commission from Satan, we can conceive how their 
 destruction may be completed as here described, 
 from the recorded end of Korah, Dathan, and 
 Abiram, in regard to whom it is said: " The 
 ground clave asunder that was under them ; and 
 
CH. xii. 1 — IT.] INTERPRETED. 219 
 
 the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them 
 up, and their houses, and all the men that 
 appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. 
 They, and all that appertained to them, went down 
 alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them : 
 and they perished from among the congregation." 
 Num. xvi. 31 — S3. Thus, sudden judgment will 
 come upon these Antichristian assailants, and they 
 will go down 'quick into destruction, reminding 
 the preserved remnant of the experience of their 
 forefathers, when they saw Pharaoh and his armies 
 engulphed in the waters of the E-ed Sea. 
 
 Ver. 17. And the drago7i was lorath with the 
 woman, and tverit to make toar with the remnant 
 of her seed ivhich keep the commandments of God, 
 and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.'] Thus, the 
 previous description of Satan is resumed. As the 
 serpent, he had acted with craft in instigating to the 
 pursuit of the Jewish remnant just recited. Now, 
 upon their escaping his malice, he is exasperated, 
 and proceeds to act with more 023en violence 
 against those that are still exposed to his power. 
 And such are represented under a two-fold 
 denomination. First, they are the remnant of the 
 woman's seed, ^. e. Jews. Secondly, they are 
 believing Jews; for they "keep the commandments 
 of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ," 
 by which may be denoted the remnant now 
 l8 
 
220 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xii. 1 17. 
 
 enclosed within the captured city; but, principally, 
 the seven Churches in Asia Minor — JcAvish 
 disciples, who, scattered into the different cities 
 named, form themselves into worshipping com- 
 munities after the manner of their fathers. And it 
 is remarkable, that to these parties the prophecies 
 of this book, called the testimony of Jesus Christ, 
 are primarily addressed. Ch. i. 11; xxii. 16. See 
 vol. i. p. 58, 67, 69. 
 
 Upon the characteristic feature — " who keep 
 the commandments of God^^ — which has not 
 been yet noticed, the suggestion is offered, that 
 perhaps this relates to the renewed observance 
 of the Mosaic ordinances, which seem enjoined 
 upon the returned Jews in the latter day, in con- 
 nection with the assured re-appearance amongst 
 them of Elijah the prophet: " Remember ye the 
 law of Moses my servant, which I commanded 
 unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes 
 and judgments." Mai. iv. 4. Let it be added, 
 that for the admission of this suggestion, the 
 reference to the temple-worshippers in Jerusalem,* 
 as also to the synagogue form of assembly attaching 
 to the seven Churches, should serve to prepare 
 the reader. And if the co-existence of all this, as 
 divinely sanctioned, seem incompatible with the 
 status and privileges now occupied by the Church, 
 
 * See cliapter xi. 
 
CH. xiii. 1 10.] INTERPRETED. 
 
 the view already contended for, in these pages, of 
 the previous translation of the latter into her place 
 in the heavens, must be called to mind — an event 
 which leaves room for the Divine recurrence to 
 Jewish testimony, as it obtained of old, prior to 
 the disclosure of the present mystery.* Eph. iii. 9. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 (Verses 1—10.) 
 
 1 Aud I stood upon tlie saud of the sea, aud saw a beast rise up 
 out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his 
 horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 
 
 2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his 
 feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a 
 lion : and the drag- n gave him his power, aud his seat, and great 
 authority. 
 
 3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death ; 
 and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered 
 after the beast. 
 
 ■i And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the 
 beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto 
 the beast ? who is able to make war with him ? 
 
 5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things 
 and blasphemies ; and power was given unto him to continue forty 
 and two months. 
 
 6 Aud he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to 
 blaspheme his name, aud his tabernacle, and them that dwell in 
 heaven. 
 
 * See Introductory Essay. Apocalyptic Interpretation, pp 49, 50, 
 
222 THE APOCALYPSE [cil. xiii. 1 10. 
 
 7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and 
 to overcome them : and power was given him over all kindreds, 
 and tongues, and nations. 
 
 8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose 
 names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from 
 the foundation of the world. 
 
 If any man have an ear, let him hear. 
 
 10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity : he that 
 killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the 
 patience and the faith of the saints. 
 
 It is very important, in entering upon the con- 
 sideration of this chapter, to discern the precise 
 period to which its events belong. To this end, 
 we must bear in mind the information of chap, xii., 
 that, after Satan's ejection from heaven, the crisis 
 of his persecution of the Jewish people begins. 
 At this point, then, the subject seems taken up, 
 in the visions that follow, to rehearse the par- 
 ticulars of that terrible agency which shall be put 
 in requisition on the occasion, even the Antichrist 
 of the last days, whose impious career forms the 
 subject of allusion in so many of the prophecies. 
 
 And here it may be well to notice the parallelism, 
 as to order of events, between the Spirit's recital 
 in this place and in the second epistle to the 
 Thessalonians. In the latter, after speaking of 
 the same party, the Antichrist, and depicting his 
 blasphemous character, the Apostle significantly 
 adds, as though reverting to what he had before 
 communicated, *^ And now ye know what with- 
 
CH.xiii. 1 10.] INTERPRETED. 
 
 holdeth" (or letteth) "that he" (i.e. the Antichrist) 
 " might be revealed in his time." He repeats the 
 matter, however, in the very next clause : — 
 " For the mystery of iniquity doth already work." 
 (2 Thess. ii. 6, 7.) Thus, an operating cause is 
 assigned for the hitherto suspended appearance 
 of this monster of iniquity, wherein the neuter 
 gender is used. But there is a personal agent at 
 work, as well, who plies this mystery of iniquity, 
 and so it follows : — " Only he who now letteth" 
 (or withholdeth, for it is the same word that is 
 employed) " will let," (or, withhold) " until he 
 be taken out of the way." He, accordingly, who 
 has to do with the working of the mystery of 
 iniquity— that is, we cannot doubt, Satan, against 
 whose wiles the saints have now to wrestle — is 
 manifestly the one who, in some way or other, 
 stays the appearance of the Antichrist ; and as his 
 object herein may be to economize his resources, 
 and reserve, as long as possible, the last arrow in 
 his quiver — so his ejection from the heavens may 
 be the event which will precipitate measures, 
 and terminate all reserve. And it is worthy of 
 remark that the phrase " until he be taken otit 
 of the wayP is, literally, until he be taken 
 * out of the midsty as though to refer to the 
 successful issue of the war which Michael wages 
 against him. The sequel, moreover, in both 
 recitals, equally corresponds. For " then," says 
 
^^'i THE APOCALYPSE [cH. xiii. 1 10. 
 
 the Apostle, " shall that wicked be revealed," 
 (^. e. the Antichrist) ; and similarly succeeds the 
 vision before us, in the Apocalypse : — " And 
 I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a least 
 rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten 
 horns, and upon his horns ten croivns, and upon 
 his heads the name of hlasphemy.^^ So much for 
 the connexion between this chapter and the 
 subject of the preceding. 
 
 We now proceed with the details of inter- 
 pretation. 
 
 Ver. 1. And I stood, 1 According to the most 
 improved version of the original text, this clause 
 runs thus : — '' And he stood i"^ that is, the Dragon. 
 And this is more consistent with the context, 
 as intimating that the evoking of the Antichrist, 
 the event which immediately follows, is the work of 
 Satan, now addressing himself to the organization 
 of his desperate rebellion against the great coming 
 deliverer. 
 
 Upon the sand of the sea.'] That the sea here 
 means the Mediterranean, is an interpretation 
 commended to us by what follows. From the 
 countries washed by its waters, the Antichrist 
 and his empire will take their rise. And so, on 
 the sand, or shore thereof, Satan, the deviser 
 of the evil, may be well said to take up his 
 position, as he summons his ordained ally to 
 his service. 
 
CH. xiii. 1 10.] INTERPRETED. 22o 
 
 And I saw a beast rise up out of the sea.] Such 
 is the spectacle presented to the Apostle, as 
 though the response to Satan's summons. The 
 Antichrist, in whom the universal empire of the 
 latter day will at length attain to unity, now 
 emerges, as a huge monster, from the deep. 
 
 Hacing seven heads and ten horns.] As observed, 
 in the exposition of chap, xii., this description, — 
 corresponding in its features to that of the dragon, 
 and, doubtless, showing that here is his future 
 representative on earth, — sums up the distribution, 
 as to heads and horns, of the four beasts in Dan. vii. 
 (See vol. ii., p. 191.) It is observable, also, that 
 these latter monsters, in like manner, emerge 
 from the Mediterranean or " Great Sea," as the 
 result of the striving, upon it, of the four winds 
 of heaven. 
 
 From these coincidences, it seems manifest that 
 the powers thus symbolized in the vision of the 
 Prophet, whatever allusion popular commentators 
 may find in them to past empires, are to act their 
 part in a crisis still future : and what confirms 
 this view is the fact, that, at the Lord's coming 
 in judgment, they are found contemporaneously 
 in existence, and the effects of that judgment 
 upon them, respectively, are assigned by the 
 Prophet : — " I beheld even till the beast was 
 slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the 
 burning flame. As concerning the rest of the 
 l3 
 
226 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. xiii. 1 10. 
 
 beasts, they had then* dominion taken away : yet 
 their lives were prolonged for a season and time." 
 Dan. vii. 11, 12. Without going further into 
 this subject at present, as it must again come 
 under discussion in a subsequent chapter, let it 
 suffice to add, that a like reference to the future, 
 seems to belong to Nebuchadnezzar's vision of 
 the image, in the second chapter of the same 
 Prophet. For, when the stone smites it upon its 
 feet — the symbol of the fourth empire in its 
 divided state — *' then," we read, " was the iron, 
 the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, 
 broken to pieces together, and became like the 
 chaff of the summer threshing-floor;" — that is, 
 the other kingdoms are involved in destruction. 
 Thus it is implied that, in some way or other, 
 they are reputed to have an existence at the time 
 in question ; and the unity of the image, taking it 
 as a whole, would seem to require a recognition 
 of this. 
 
 A?id upon his horns ten croions^ In the de- 
 scription of the dragon, the symbol of Satan, 
 in chap, xii., we observed the crowns were " upon 
 his seven heads," signifying, as was remarked, 
 his complete dominion, as God of this world. 
 Now that his great ordinance, the Antichrist, 
 appears upon the stage, the distribution of crowns 
 is in proportion to his ten symbolic horns, all 
 which are invested with this distinction. For, 
 
CH. Xiii. 1 10.] INTERPRETED. 2^7 
 
 he (the Antichrist) will have ten kings under 
 him, who, that they may act their part, will 
 " receive power," as it is said, elsewhere, " for 
 one hour with the Beast," their imperial master. 
 Chap. xvii. 12. 
 
 And upon his heads the name of hlasphemtj.'\ 
 The heads of the beast seem to set forth the 
 unity which the person of the Antichrist will give 
 to a line of kings with which he will be con- 
 nected. And here we learn that one characteristic, 
 which will be prominently summed up in him, 
 is blasphemy. The details of this we shall meet 
 with as we proceed. 
 
 Yer. 2. A?id the beast lohich I saw teas like unto 
 a leopard, and his feet toere as the feet of a bear, 
 and his mouth as the mouth of a Hon.] This is a 
 summary combination of the description of the 
 three beasts in Dan. vii. already referred to : — 
 '" The first was like a lion. . . ,a second, like to 
 a bear. .. , After this I beheld, and lo another, 
 like a leopard." The fourth beast, in the series, 
 it will be remembered, yields the one head and 
 ten horns, which are supplementary to the 
 filling up all the details of the one symbolic 
 beast before us.* Nor should this setting forth 
 of the dreadful oppressor of the last days find 
 us unprepared for his special aspect towards 
 the Jewish people, as the divinely ordained 
 
 * Daniel vii. 
 
228 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. xiii. 1 — 10. 
 
 scourge to chastise them for their career of 
 national apostacy. For, in the Prophet Hosea, 
 after a recapitulation of their grievous offences,, 
 Jehovah thus threatens : — " Therefore I will be 
 unto them as a lion : as a leopard by the way 
 will I observe them : I will meet them as a 
 bear that is bereaved of her whelps . . . .there 
 will I devour them like a lion : "* and, as the 
 emphatic import of all these comparisons, it is 
 added, as though pointing to Daniel and the 
 Apocalypse, " The wild beast shall tear them." 
 See vol. i., p. 124. 
 
 And the dragon gave him his poioer, and his 
 seat, and great authority^ This clearly exhibits 
 the Antichrist as holding his universal empire 
 of Satan. And so says St. Paul: — "whose 
 coming is after the working of Satan, with all 
 power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with 
 all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them 
 that perish. (2 Thess. ii. 9, 10.) The design 
 of getting himself thus represented in the person 
 of a man, in whom he can energize, and so mimic 
 the great mystery of godliness — " God manifest 
 in the flesh " — has ever been entertained by 
 Satan. 
 
 And of this, he gave significant intimation 
 in his temptation of our blessed Lord, when 
 showing him all the kingdoms of the world, 
 
 * Plosea xiii. 7. 8. 
 
CH. xiii. 1 10.] IXTERPRETED. 229 
 
 he said: — "All this power will I give thee, and the 
 glory of them : for that is delivered unto me; 
 and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou 
 therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine." 
 (Luke iv. 6, 7.) Thus did Satan disclose his 
 secret, which he will yet practically carry out, 
 of transferring earth's empire to the sway of 
 some human vassal who will acknowledge him 
 as his liege lord, and do him homage accordingly. 
 Our Lord, indeed, spurned the proposal with 
 holy indignation, saying, '* Get thee behind me, 
 Satan." But, as we are here informed, the 
 time is at hand, when Satan will succeed in 
 getting the fit instrument for which he has 
 been looking ; and working mightily in this 
 ^' man of the earili^^* the ^^ man of sin,^' f as he 
 is elsewhere called, will he wrestle to retain 
 his usurj)ed dominion against the seed of the 
 woman, the great Redeemer, who is hastening 
 to the rescue. 
 
 In regard to the term, " seat," used in this 
 clause, it is, literally, throne, the same word 
 which occurs in the second chapter, where the 
 angel of the church of Pergamos is addressed : — 
 *' I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, 
 even where Satan's seat (throne) is ; See also 
 chap. xvi. 10., and vol. i., p. 120 — 126. 
 
 Ver. 3. A7icl I saiu one of his heads, as it icere 
 
 ♦ Psalm X. 18. t 2 Thess. ii. 3. 
 
2B0 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiii. 1 10. 
 
 wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed."] 
 This expression — "as it were wounded to death," 
 obviously suggests to the mind what is said in 
 chap. V. 6, of our blessed Lord being seen in 
 heaven " as a Lamb that had been slain^^ that is, 
 with the marks of His sacrificial death upon His 
 person. Similar, then, we may presume the 
 meaning to be touching the aspect of the Beast. 
 He exhibits tokens of his having been put to 
 death. And here it is indispensable to anticipate, 
 in some measure, the information given us in chap, 
 xvii. ; for it is to the same events, there detailed, 
 that allusion is now made. The spectacle of the 
 woman (the city of Babylon, yet to be revived) 
 sitting upon the Beast (the Antichrist), having 
 been shown, in vision, to the Apostle, so that, he 
 wondered with great admiration, — the revealing 
 angel says to him, " the beast that thou sawest was 
 and is not ; and shall ascend out of the bottomless 
 pit, and go into perdition." Here is a statement 
 w^hich plainly answers to the clause before us, 
 concerning the Beast being wounded to death as to 
 one of his heads, and yet his wound becoming 
 healed. In fact, a resurrection existence of this 
 monstrous power is clearly predicted. But after 
 the preface to arrest attention — " here is the mind 
 which hath wisdom," — the matter is still more 
 explicitly resumed in the following verse : " The 
 seven heads are seven mountains, on which the 
 
CH.xiii. 1 10.] INTERPRETED. 231 
 
 woman sitteth. And there are seven kings : five 
 are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come ; 
 and when he cometh, he must continue a short 
 space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he 
 is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into 
 perdition." Ver. 9 — 11. Here, it is submitted, 
 generally, without aiming at the full interpretation 
 which will come in due course, we have a double 
 import assigned to the seven heads of the Beast. 
 In relation to the woman, i. e. the city Babylon, 
 they are comparable to seven mountains, where- 
 upon, as on a broad foundation, she hath her seat; 
 but they are properly seven kings, through whose 
 energy of rule over the Antichristian empire, 
 Babylon everywhere exerts her paramount in- 
 fluence. These kings, it appears, are not indeed 
 contemporaneous ; and their being corporately set 
 forth in the symbol, which, at first sight, seems to 
 give them this aspect, may be merely to represent 
 that, by their resources, severally, the huge empire 
 in question has been consolidated. At the precise 
 time, in the day of the Lord, which the explanation 
 given to John contemplates, five of these kings 
 shall have fallen ; the sixth will be reigning;* and 
 the seventh, the completer of the organization of 
 the empire, is about to succeed, but only for a 
 short space, when he eventually reappears as the 
 
 * No doubt, the book of Daniel, if patiently and jji-ayerfully 
 studied, will further unfold this crisis to us. See ch. vii. \iii. xi. 
 
THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiii. 1 10. 
 
 eighth, — though still only the final complement of 
 the seven, — heading up, in his person, the vitality, 
 as it were, of those who have preceded him. 
 Thus, the empire being identified with its head, 
 he will be the Beast that was, and is not, and yet 
 is, (ver. 8). In other words, in him, the Beast 
 having had one of his heads wounded to death, 
 will, in his resurrection, have his deadly wound 
 healed ; and then, especially, will he be the 
 executive of Satan, as described in the vision 
 under consideration. 
 
 As to the difference of origin assigned to this 
 power, — the designation being in chap. xiii. the 
 Beast " from the sea ;" and in chap. xvii. the Beast 
 that " is to ascend from the bottomless pit," — this 
 is at once accounted for by the foregoing fact of 
 his having two advents, mention being made more 
 expressly of the first in his summary hibtory, 
 (chap, xiii.) ; and of the second, ^. e. his ascent 
 from Hades, or the bottomless pit,* in chap. xvii. 
 
 That the Antichrist should thus be presented as 
 triumphing over death, however startling, ought 
 not to surprise us, when we recognise Satan's 
 design in him, to mimic the true Messiah — the 
 first-born from the dead, the Prince of the kings 
 of the earth, — as also to pander to the infidel 
 thought of the ungodly, (rising even now), that 
 by some development of humanity and of the 
 * See vol. ii. pp 52 — 54. 
 
CH. xiii. 1 10.] INTERPRETED. 2SS 
 
 resources of nature around them, they may, at 
 length, evade the stern decree of dissolution, under 
 which every preceding generation of their fellows 
 has descended to the grave. Of course, such an 
 event as the resurrection of the Antichrist — the 
 vaunting champion, as we can conceive him to be, 
 of human perfectibility, — will act as a conductor 
 to the latent element of atheism, with which the 
 mass of society shall then be charged ; and, in the 
 wide-spread issue, great must be the triumph oi 
 the Author of evil. At all events, let not the 
 reader consider that the interpretation here pro- 
 pounded on this point is confined to the Author. 
 It is also to be found substantially in a recent 
 work on Prophecy, published in this country, 
 called " The Retrospect ; " and in the year 
 1806, it had appeared, accompanied by no little 
 argumentation, in an exposition of the Prophecies, 
 by a French writer, who expresses himself as 
 follows : — " St. John seems, in fact, to say, that the 
 Antichrist will be first put to death, and that he 
 Avill rise again to consummate his work. ' The 
 beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, 
 and is of the seven' — it appears necessary, for 
 preserving the natural sense and full meaning of 
 this text, to admit that the beast, who is one of 
 the seven kings, after having lived as an ordinary 
 man, and reigned some time without making him- 
 self known, will disappear from amongst men by 
 
234 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. Xlii. 1 10. 
 
 death, and will then return to occupy anew the 
 throne on which he was before seated, and con- 
 summate the mystery of iniquity which belongs 
 to him ; that is to say, in a word, that the 
 Antichrist, who is this Beast, will die and will 
 
 rise again It is impossible that the same 
 
 individual should be both one of the seven kings 
 who precede the eighth, and the eighth himself, 
 who follows the seven preceding ones, unless he 
 becomes twice king, and reigns at two different 
 epochs : the very thing that will befal the 
 Antichrist."* The above extracts may interest 
 the reader, shewing that even with the servile 
 tendency to traditionary glosses of a Romish mind, 
 the truth, on this subject, was too plain to be 
 resisted. 
 
 ' And all the world wondered after the beast.] 
 Such will be the effect on mankind of their 
 beholding the Antichrist, in the supremacy of his 
 power, after having passed through death. Crowds 
 will everywhere attend his steps, and reverberate 
 his fame. In him they will consider a new epoch 
 in the history of man has arrived ; and that, at 
 length, the evil of the past in which the race has 
 
 * Translated from " Exposition des Predictions et des Promesses 
 
 faith a VEglise." — Par le P. Lambert. Coming from such a 
 
 source, the whole work is a most remarkable pubhcation. The 
 
 disceriiment of the Author, in regard to prophetic truth, is a 
 
 reproach to many of our Protestant Divines, 
 
CH. xiii. 1 10.] INTERPRETED. 2So 
 
 SO long prevailed, has, by the improvement of 
 experience, given birth to imperishable good ; 
 that henceforth an immortal existence is within 
 their reach, for that the harbinger of it has 
 appeared. Nor shall the Jewish people, in their 
 land, escape his influence ; for there, it appears, 
 wiU he display himself in all his glory to attract 
 their carnal hearts ; so that what was not true, in 
 the language of the Pharisees, of the blessed 
 Jesus — "Behold, the world is gone after him," 
 Johnxii. 19 — shall be judicially fulfilled in this 
 His impious rival. 
 
 Ver. 4. And they vjorshipped the dragon which 
 gave power U7ito the beast.'] Thus, as through 
 Christ, the invisible Father is the object of 
 adoration to the believer ; so through his emissary 
 the Antichrist, Satan will be worshipped by the 
 deluded world. He will thus seek, by awful 
 mimicry, to anticipate the Divine purpose in the 
 manifestation of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 
 And they worshipped the beast, saying, who is 
 like unto the beast ? who is able to make war with 
 him ?] Thus, the Antichrist will also attract 
 homage to himself, being at one and the same time, 
 in imitation of the Christ of God — the worshipped, 
 and the head of the worshippers. Indeed, in 
 deifying him, mankind will be also deifying them- 
 selves. For he v/ill be the impersonating unity 
 of all that they will then esteem, — intellectual 
 
2S6 THE APocAL-ypsE [cH. xiii. 1 10. 
 
 development, worldly possessions, commercial 
 fame, insatiable ambition, martial prowess. See 
 Isaiah xiv. ; Job xli. ; Hab. ii. Hence, their very- 
 self-complacency will make them boast themselves 
 of him. Accordingly, they challenge with disdain 
 the onset of any foe against him : — " W7io is able 
 to make war with him ? " — words which seem 
 designed as a parody upon the homage rendered 
 to Jehovah by Israel of old, when they sang over 
 the destruction of Pharaoh and his hosts : — '^ The 
 
 Lord is a man of war : the Lord is his name 
 
 "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the ^ods ? 
 who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in 
 praises, doing wonders?" Exodus xv. o, 11. 
 And here, again, we are reminded that among 
 the apostate worshippers of the Antichrist, Jewish 
 votaries will not be wanting to offer him the 
 very incense that Jehovah has appropriated to 
 himself. 
 
 Ver. 5. And there was given unto him a mouth 
 speaking great things.^ This serves to identify 
 the enemy, here described, with the little horn 
 of Daniel's fourth beast: — '^ I considered," he 
 says, " the horns, and, behold, there came up 
 among them another little horn, before whom 
 there were three of the first horns plucked up by 
 the roots : and, behold, in this horn were eyes 
 like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great 
 things,^^ Dan. vii. 8. What these great things will 
 
CH. xiii. 1 10.) INTERPRETED. 237 
 
 be, we can imagine from the arrogant boastings of 
 Sennacherib, of old, one of the types of this 
 final enemy, recounting his achievements, and 
 reproaching Israel with the impotence of their 
 God to resist his invading progress.* 
 
 And blasphemies.'] This is, doubtless, but 
 another expression for " speaking great words 
 against the IMost High," which Daniel predicates 
 of the fourth beast just alluded to. 
 
 Again : the same feature is expanded in the 
 account of the wilful king in chap, xi., indicating, 
 moreover, that he is a third portraiture of the 
 party before us : — " And the king shall do ac- 
 cording to his will ; and he shall exalt himself, 
 and magnify himself above every god, and shall 
 speak marvellous things against the God of gods." 
 Dan. xi. SQ. This answers, also, to the prophecy 
 concerning the man of sin, in the epistle to the 
 Thessalonians, of whom it is said, that ^^ he 
 opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is 
 called God, or that is worshipped ; so that he as 
 God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself 
 that he is God." 2 Thess. ii. 4. We cannot 
 doubt that it is the same blaspheming party who 
 is contemplated. 
 
 And power was given unto him to conthiue forty 
 and two mo7iths.] Such is to be the duration of 
 the Antichrist's open tyranny and persecution, 
 
 * Isaiah xxxvi. 
 
238 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. xiii. 1 10. 
 
 after having, with, his hosts, captured Jerusalem. 
 (See chap.xi.) It is the same period that is referred 
 to in Daniel, where we read that " he shall speak 
 great words against the Most High, and shall 
 wear out the saints of the Most High, (the Jewish 
 people), and think to change times and laws : 
 and they shall be given into his hand until a 
 time, and times, and the dividing of time.'* 
 Dan. vii. 25. As already observed, this period 
 also runs parallel with that of the prophesying of 
 the two witnesses; and appears to be the latter 
 half of Daniel's week, or hebdomad ; during 
 which, for some provocation or other, having 
 broken his covenant with the deluded Jews, he 
 throws ojff the mask, and becomes their ruthless 
 oppressor. At the expiration of this assigned 
 time, we may conclude that the seven vials of 
 retributive wrath are poured out upon him and 
 his confederates, to be succeeded by the epiphany 
 or manifestation of the Divine presence, in order 
 to his destruction. See 2 Thess. ii. 8. 
 
 Ver. 6. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy 
 against God, to blaspheme his name, and his 
 tabernacle, and them that dxoell in heaven^ 
 Thus, he fails not to act according to the 
 endowment ascribed to him in the preceding 
 verse — " a mouth speaking blasphemies,^^ But 
 here are further specified the objects of his 
 blasphemies; — first, the name of God, that is. 
 
CH. xiil. 1 10.] INTERPRETED. 239 
 
 the Divine cliaracter ; secondly, his tabernacle ; 
 doubtless, the cloudy pavilion in the heavens, 
 where-from, we may imagine, occasional signs 
 will be given, as from the pillar of cloud of 
 old, of the Lord's coming judgments against 
 this wicked one ; — thirdly, them that dioell, or 
 tabernacle, therein ; that is, Christ and his 
 glorified saints, as they are presented to us in 
 chap. iv. 
 
 Ver. 7. A7id it was given unto him to make war 
 with the saints, and to overcome them.] This 
 harmonizes with the titles given to the Antichrist 
 elsewhere — the enemy and avenger.* As such 
 he will be used of God, to scourge the apostate 
 Jewish nation. But a righteous remnant main- 
 taining a faithful testimony amidst his usurpation 
 will also suffer, and it is to these the denomination 
 of saints belongs. One class of them will be 
 composed, as we have seen, of the seven Churches 
 of Asia ; and another will consist of the band of 
 true worshippers in Jerusalem, at the head of 
 whom will be the two witnesses, whom the 
 Antichrist finally overcomes. But, as already 
 noticed, real victory will belong to them, like as 
 unto the blessed Jesus himself, who, through 
 death, destroyed him that had the power of 
 death ;t and so, they are addressed and celebrated 
 
 * Psalm viii. 2 ; xliv. IG. + Heb. ii. 14. 
 
240 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiii. 1 — 10. 
 
 beforehand as overcoming* This persecuting 
 career of the Antichrist is obviously identical 
 with what is said of the little horn of Daniel's 
 fourth beast : — " The same horn made war 
 with the saints, and prevailed against them." 
 Dan. vii. 21. 
 
 And power was given him over all kindreds, and 
 tongues, and ?iations.] Here is a note of that 
 universal empire, of which the Antichrist will be 
 possessed throughout the earth ; the antitype, in 
 this respect, of Nebuchadnezzar of old, (see Dan. 
 iii. 7, &c,) ; and by its resources he will be sup- 
 ported, we can imagine, in the persecution of the 
 saints referred to in the previous clause. But, 
 amidst it all, they will doubtless feel comfort in 
 the recognition of the fact (as did our Lord of old, 
 in the case of Pilate) that their oppressor could 
 have no power against them, except it were given 
 him from above. f 
 
 Ver. 8. And all that dwell upon the earth shall 
 worship hi7n.'\ As the preceding verse ascribes' 
 to the Antichrist an universal lordship over " all 
 kindreds, tongues, and nations," it is reasonable 
 to interpret similarly this universality of worship 
 which is to be rendered to him. All mankind, 
 with the exception that immediately follows, will 
 do him homage ; though, of course, the inhabitants 
 
 * Ch. ii. 7, 11, 17, 20 ; iii. 5, 12, 21 ; xii. 11. + Jolin xix. 11. 
 
CH.xiii. 1 10.] INTERPRETED. 241 
 
 of the land (Palestine) may be especially included 
 as being the scene of the tyrant's most blasphemous 
 usurpation — sitting in the temple of God^ and 
 showing himself that he is God. 2 Thess. ii. 4. 
 And it is observable, that it is in connexion with 
 this, the Spirit proceeds in the Epistle to the 
 Thessalonians, to describe the abandonment of 
 men to strong delusion that they should believe 
 a lie — the lie bging, doubtless, the impious pre- 
 tensions of the arch-deceiver. 
 
 Whose 7iames are not written in the hook of life 
 of the Lamh slain from the foundation of the 
 imrld^ The words, " from the foundation of 
 the world," should be read in connexion with 
 the verb " vjritten.^'' The construction of the 
 original requires this. And, comparing herewith 
 Matt. XXV. 34, it seems that this form of date 
 is usually associated with the Divine purpose 
 towards mankind at large, as though folio wing- 
 in order the working of Godhead within itself 
 in the setting up of the Christ, and the choosing 
 of the Church in Him : for the period to which 
 these latter events are ascribed is given thus — 
 " hefore the foundation of the world.'''' (See 
 John xvii. 5, 24 ; Ephes. i. 4.) Sovereign grace, 
 however, is characterized by the use of both dates ; 
 and from it accordingly originates, as in the case 
 before us, the reserve of any of the inhabitants 
 of the earth from the delusions of the Antichrist. 
 
 VOL. II. 11. M 
 
242 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. xiii. 1 — 10. 
 
 They are recognized by God as objects of his love 
 from of old, as though recorded in a book before 
 him ; and hence they are saved from that enormous 
 act of blasphemy which will cause the Divine 
 wrath to burn for ever against the apostates. 
 
 On the expression " the book of life/' see on 
 ch. iii. 5. That it is here called " the book of 
 life of the Lamh,^ intimates that God's preserving 
 mercy (as indeed all blessings) is the fruit of the 
 atoning blood. 
 
 Ver. 9. If any man have an ear, let him hear.] 
 This oracular note may be taken in connexion 
 with what precedes or follows. See on ch. ii. 7. 
 
 Ver. 10. He that leadeth into captivity shall go 
 into captivity : he that Mlleth with the sword must 
 he killed with the sword.] This would seem to 
 intimate that the persecuting power will eventually 
 undergo a retribution of like kind with the 
 cruelty practised by itself. But this is scarcely 
 congruous with the following clause, which repre- 
 sents the patience and faith of the saints as being 
 hereby exercised. It is submitted, then, that in 
 accordance with a recent edition of the original 
 text,* the passage should run thus : — ' If any one 
 leadeth into captivity, into captivity he (the 
 
 '■' E< Tis cn-^^fxaXwaiav avvuyei, els aiy^jjLaXwaiav 
 u-nayec el tis Iv ^n^a/pa a-noKTeveiy he\ avror ev pa-^nipa 
 (nrokTardfji ai. Novum Testamentum Grsece ad fidem codicis 
 principis Vaticani. Edidit Edwardus Be Muralto. Hambwgi, 1846, 
 
CH. xiii. 1 10.] INTERPRETED. 24:3 
 
 oppressed) goes ; if any one will kill with the 
 sword, wdth the sword must he (the oppressed) 
 be killed ;' and so, the import of the verse is to 
 affirm the inevitableness, for the appointed time, 
 of the oppressor's tyranny. According to his 
 caprice, some will be numbered to captivity, and 
 others to the sword. The period in question is, 
 no doubt, the same that is referred to in the 
 Prophet Zechariah, where, after the rehearsal of 
 the cutting off of two-thirds of the inhabitants 
 of the land at large (Palestine), it is added : 
 " And half of the city shall go forth into captivity." 
 Zech. xiii. 8 ; xiv. 2. 
 
 The forty-fourth Psalm, also, it is likely, points 
 to the same crisis : — " For thy sake are we killed 
 all the day long ; we are counted as sheep for the 
 slaughter." Psalm xliv. 22. 
 
 Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.'] 
 That is, the afore-named suffering will be the 
 occasion for the exercise of these graces ; and this 
 should suggest to us, as already noticed, that the 
 seven Churches, mentioned in the beginning of 
 this book, belong to this future time ; for all the 
 Epistles addressed to them imply the endurance 
 of the same sort of persecution, and these very 
 graces, patience and faith, are recognized with 
 emphatic approbation by the Lord Jesus. See 
 vol. 1, pages 12, 73. 
 
 Children of God ! Such is a summary of the 
 m3 
 
244 THE APOCAL"XPSE [cH. xiii. 1 10. 
 
 development of evil in the latter days, or, " day 
 of the Lord " And may we not regard it as at 
 hand ? For, what should we so naturally expect 
 to precede the establishment, in the earth, of the 
 Beast's despotic reign, as the career of revolution 
 and anarchy which is even now spreading itself 
 among the nations — the acceptance of an absolute 
 tyrant being the only resource left to mankind 
 amidst the exhaustion of democratic selfishness. 
 
 How watchful and alert, then, ought we to be 
 in regard to our blessed hope — translation to meet 
 our cominsr Lord — the initiatini? event which will 
 precipitate the course of every other ! Let us 
 remember Abraham communed with God in 
 prayer, whilst destruction was impending over 
 the guilty Sodom ; and the character of Enoch, 
 in connexion with his glorious distinction amongst 
 men — type as he was of the church of God — is 
 thus given :—" Enoch walked with God: and 
 he was not ; for God took him." Gen. v. 24. 
 Oh ! that the Christian reader may drink into 
 this spirit — the same, also, that actuates our Lord 
 himself; for of Him it is written, that, at the 
 Father's right hand. He sits " expecting y" and, 
 herein, the longing of every departed saint is 
 equally represented. 
 
 How long, Lord, how loug ? even in heav'u 
 Sounds this phuntive cry from spirits forgiv'u ; 
 Jesus, they would have more, even in bliss, 
 E'en there, expectant, wait more happiness. 
 
CH. xiii. 11 18.] INTERPRETED. 245 
 
 They wait eveu iu lieav'n impatiently 
 To see this troubled world at peace with Thee ; 
 Their eyes would see earth's King, once crucified, 
 At length acknowledged, lov'd, and glorified. 
 
 Jesus ! they would behold thy work complete, 
 And misery and sin beneath thy feet ; 
 And may not we, too, join in heaven's song ? 
 Should we alone not ask, " How long ? how long ?" 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 SECTION SECOND. 
 Verses 11—18. 
 
 11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; 
 and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 
 
 12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, 
 and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship 
 the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 
 
 13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come 
 down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. 
 
 14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by t/ie means of 
 those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast ; 
 saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make au 
 image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 
 
 15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, 
 that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as 
 many as would not worship the image of the beast should be 
 killed. - 
 
246 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. xiii. 11 — 18. 
 
 IG And lie cansetli all, both small and great, rich and poor, 
 free and bond, to receive a mark in tbeir right hand, or in their 
 foreheads : 
 
 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the 
 mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 
 
 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the 
 number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his 
 number is six hundred threescore and six. 
 
 "We have seen, in the previous chapter, how the 
 dragon when cast out of heaven, and limited to 
 the earth, seeks to make the most of the short 
 time allotted to him, and goes forth to destroy 
 and exterminate the Jews. The instrument, also, 
 that he will use for that purpose — the Antichrist 
 of the last days — has been described in the former 
 section of this chapter. Now is revealed another 
 and subordinate agent, who, with the Antichrist 
 and Satan, will constitute an awful mimicry of the 
 Divine Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 
 Yer. 11. A7id I beheld another heast comiiig up 
 out of the^earth.'l The term translated earth here, 
 seems to be put in contrast with the sea in ver. 1, 
 whence the first Beast emerges. And, as we con- 
 cluded that the latter referred to the countries 
 bordering on the Mediterranean, the reader may 
 be disposed to regard the former (the earth) as 
 signifying some inland territory, which is to yield 
 forth the second agent of evil. Hence, also, it 
 may appear that the Eoman Pontiff, with his 
 wide-spread influence over the European continent, 
 
CH. xiii. 11 18.] INTERPRETED. 247 
 
 is the party represented ; nor, as the Arch-leader 
 of apostacy for so many centuries, is there any 
 improbability, but the reverse, that such may be 
 the final part which he will come to act. At the 
 beginning of the present revolutionary crisis, we 
 know how this great Ecclesiastic endeavoured to 
 ride on the storm and rule the whirlwind; and 
 how in the neighbouring kingdom of France, 
 in order to retain their position, the Romish 
 priesthood lent themselves to the insensate freaks 
 of an excited populace, by celebrating with Masses 
 their successful insurrection, and blessing its 
 emblems — the trees of liberty. When, therefore, 
 the Mighty Conqueror of the last days, at the 
 head of an universal empire, fills the world with 
 the prestige of his fame ; and when utter apostacy 
 from even the profession of Christianity prev^ails 
 amongst mankind ; the espousal of His cause may 
 be but another device of the Papal usurper, 
 wherewith to maintain his own ascendency. 
 
 But whilst it is quite right, with such an artful 
 and corrupt power before us as the ecclesiastical 
 despot of Rome presents, to look in this direction 
 for the obsequious agent of the future Antichrist ; 
 yet, possibly, the origin ascribed to him out of the 
 earth may mean the Jewish land ; and so he may 
 be the chief of those false prophets which are 
 spoken of elsewhere, as being to ply their work 
 amongst the returned Jews. See Matt. xxiv. 24. 
 
248 THE APOCALYPSE [cH.xiii. 11 18. 
 
 A7id he had two horns like a Iamb.] Thus as 
 the first Beast, the Antichrist, has the aspect of 
 destructiveness about him whereby to intimidate, 
 his agent wears the aspect of conciliation ; so that, 
 between the two, every diversity of human con* 
 stitution will be appealed to, in order to attract 
 adherents to their diabolical cause. On the one 
 hand, it will appear dangerous to resist ; on the 
 other, plausible to yield. It may be that this 
 second agent will commend himself as a minister 
 of peace, by his own quiet subjection to his 
 Antichristian superior. 
 
 And he spahe as a dragon^ Thus his real 
 nature Avill shew itself. Withal that his appear- 
 ance is so different ; fierceness and rage will really 
 belong to him, and will exhibit themselves in his 
 enunciations, as occasion occurs. When our 
 blessed Lord spoke of ^^ wolves in sheeps' clothing" 
 as the similitude of false teachers. He, doubtless, 
 had in view this satellite of the wicked one. 
 See Matt. vii. 15. And, perhaps, it is because of 
 the character of this agent of the Antichrist, as 
 well as his own treachery, that the latter is s]3oken 
 of as he is in Psalm Iv. 2 : — " The words of his 
 mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in 
 his heart : his words were softer than oil, yet 
 were they drawn swords." 
 
 Ver. 12. A7id he exerciseth all the poioer of 
 the first heast before him^ This feature of the 
 
CH. xiii. 11 18.] INTERPRETED. 249 
 
 description seeins to be taken from the scene 
 presented at tlie appearances of the Antichrist 
 in public; and probably Jerusalem is the place 
 implied^ as it is there, in the temple of God, 
 he is to be formally enthroned as an object of 
 worship. On such occasions, we can easily 
 conceive, that this his prime minister, as here 
 stated, will accompany him ; sounding his fame, 
 and acting ostentatiously as the organ of his 
 power. The words " before him," signify that 
 he acts in the p]"esence of his superior ; but 
 still, he may also precede him, in the various 
 processions which may be formed. 
 
 And causeth the earth and them lohich dwell 
 therein to worshij) the first least whose deadly 
 wound loas healed?^ Although the dominion 
 and influence of the Antichrist will prevail 
 throughout the world, yet, as the description 
 before us (as ^^Iready observed) seems to relate 
 to some public display of blasphemous arrogance 
 amongst the Jews, it is submitted that the word 
 earth should be read land ; and, as in other 
 places, the original is equivocal, so as to admit 
 this translation. 
 
 Thus, then, the above clause represents the 
 object at which the False Prophet aims on the 
 occasion of the Antichrist showing himself to 
 the inhabitants of Palestine. Assembled, as we 
 can imagine them to be, in the holy city, as 
 m3 
 
250 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiii. 11 — 18. 
 
 though to witness some great festival, it may 
 be, an imposing visitation of the sanctuary by 
 the Antichrist, mimicking and eclipsing that of 
 the meek and lowly Jesus of old — they will be 
 deluded^ under this False Prophet's influence, 
 into w^orshipping the Impostor. And it would 
 seem that the fact of his having risen from the 
 dead is that which will be regarded as embla- 
 zoning forth his pretensions to this homage ; 
 the false prophet, in his magnifying of him, no 
 doubt relying especially on this supernatural 
 event. See on ver. 3. 
 
 Ver. 13. A?id he doeth great wonders, so that 
 he maketh fire come down from heaven on the 
 earth in the sight of men.] Thus, this ally of the 
 Antichrist will also perform miracles ; and of these 
 one sort is specified, — " making fire come down 
 from heaven." This instrumentality being em- 
 ployed by God, on former occasions, in order to 
 the infliction of judgment, — as in the case of 
 Elijah's dealing with the captains sent to appre- 
 hend him* — ancl our Lord's disciples being ready 
 Jto evoke it for the same purpose upon the 
 inhospitable Samaritans,t may indicate that it is 
 wdth a like design to punish the refractory, that 
 this False Prophet here resorts to it. And we 
 know from the history of Job, that, amongst the 
 other mischiefs which befell this saint of God, 
 
 * 2 Kings i. 10—12. + Lnke ix. 54. 
 
CH. xiii. 11 18.) INTERPRETED. 251 
 
 fire from heaven was used by Satan, for the 
 destruction of his servants and flocks.* But it is 
 also to be recollected, that fire from heaven 
 came of old for another object, even to consume 
 the sacrifices which were acceptable to God, 
 (see 1 Kings xviii. 08, &c.) ; and so it may be, 
 that, amidst the profane demonstrations of joy at 
 this time, sacrifices being offered to the Antichrist, 
 (just as was the impulse on the part of the 
 multitude, when they would deify Paul and 
 Barnabas,) such sacrifices will be thus ^Iver- 
 tized as righteously directed. Or, again, as no 
 object for this miracle is defined by the Spirit, 
 it may be that it will be wrought for the sake of 
 producing blind wonder and devotion, on the part 
 of the multitude, unlike the economy which 
 obtains in the Divine administration. On this 
 point the reader himself is left to discriminate. 
 
 Ver. 14. A?id deceweth them that divell on the 
 earth {land) hy the means of those miracles lohich 
 he had power to do in the sight of the beast.'] 
 What'jver we may consider to be the purport 
 of the miracle just specified, it is here implied 
 that various others will be wrought. Nor is it 
 forbidden that we should recognise some of these 
 as wearing a philanthropic aspect. A remarkable 
 passage indicative of this trait of character, 
 apparently, at least, attaching to the Antichrist, 
 is found in the figurative delineation of him, 
 
 * Job i. 16. 
 
2^2 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiii. 11 18. 
 
 furnished in the Book of Job, — under the descrip- 
 tion of Leviathan, or, as he is called in the close 
 of the chapter, " a kixg over all the children 
 OF pride/' — wherein we read, " Sorrow is 
 turned into joy before liim.^'* Job xli. 22. Hence, 
 also, we may conceive of the deception under 
 which the occupants of the land will be seduced 
 into the idolatrous veneration of this daring 
 usurper. As the Apostle says, '^ Whose coming 
 is after the working of Satan with all power 
 and signs and lying wonders. And with all 
 deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that 
 perish ; because they received not the love of the 
 truth, that they might be saved. And for this 
 cause God shall send them strong delusion, that 
 they should believe a lie : That they all might be 
 damned who believed not the truth, but had 
 pleasure in unrighteousness."* 
 
 Hereupon, it may be useful to observe, that 
 miracles, by themselves, are not the standard 
 whereby to test Divine truth ; but they do test 
 the real state of the heart. For, if the heart 
 be in unison with God, it will hail the token 
 of truth that is from above, and will revolt 
 from that of the lie, however imposing, which 
 comes from beneath. In fact, to the child of 
 God a miracle in itself is only an index to the 
 supernatural ; but whether that supernatural is 
 from God or Satan, is discriminated by the 
 
 * 2 Thess. ii. 9—13. 
 
CH. xiii. 11--1S.] INTERPRETED. 2oo 
 
 subject-matter with which it is associated. And 
 to this end, God allows not the seal of the 
 supernatural to be affixed to the truth except 
 by himself; just as of old he allowed not the 
 utterance of wicked spirits, by the organs of men, 
 to testify to His dear Son as come in the flesh. 
 Such was the theme of those only who spoke in 
 the power of the Holy Ghost. See 1 Cor. xii. 8 ; 
 1 John iv. 1 — 6. Thus, to be established in the 
 knowledge of the truth, is what will prove the 
 preservative of God's witnesses, in the coming day 
 of trial, from the influence of lying wonders ; as 
 it is the same now which is to keep the saints 
 from being beguiled by another gospel, no matter 
 how imposingly promulgated, according to the 
 Apostle's words: — "Though we, or an angel 
 from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you 
 than that which we have preached unto you, let 
 him be accursed." Gal. i. 8. For, of course, if 
 not conversant with the truth, we cannot confront 
 with it the enemy's counterfeit. Nor is it merely 
 the Imoicledge of the truth, — the loie of it, yea, of 
 the God of truth himself, — is necessary to safety 
 in the crisis contemplated ; so that imposture 
 embraced is the proof with God of a hollow heart. 
 To this eflect we read in the 13th chapter of 
 Deuteronomy:* — "If there arise among you a 
 prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee 
 a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder 
 
 * Verses 1 — 3. 
 
254 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. xiii. 11 18. 
 
 come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, 
 Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not 
 known, and let us serve them ; thou shalt not 
 hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that 
 dreamer of dreams ; for the Lord your God 
 proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord 
 your God with all your heart and v/ith all your 
 soul." Thus, those who truly love God will not 
 be the prey to delusion, but all others shall 
 inevitably be snared and taken. 
 
 Saying to them that dwell on the earthy {land) 
 that they should make an image to the beast,] 
 Such is the idolatrous adulation to which the 
 inhabitants of Fatestine shall be instigated, (and 
 it seems successfully,) by the False Frophet, 
 that they will fabricate an image of the Antichrist 
 to which worship shall be rendered, as to 
 the Antichrist himself. That he should receive 
 worship personally, however glorifying, might 
 be inconvenient, we can conceive, to this Wicked 
 one, and thus the alternative will commend itself 
 to his votaries, to have him represented. And 
 Avhereas sometimes tyrants of old have resorted 
 for a similar purpose to any indifferent emblem ; 
 in this case, the exhibition of his image Avill 
 be determined on. Ferhaps, it is this very image, 
 or the multiplied models of it that will come into 
 popular use, (like the bust of Napoleon in the 
 present day,) whose fabrication is made the subject 
 of the Prophet's withering exposure in the Old 
 
CH. xiii. 11 18.] INTERPRETED. 255 
 
 Testament ; where — after describing the different 
 workmen employed, and their laborious process, 
 together with the ignoble application of the same 
 perishing material to the purposes of personal 
 warmth, and even culinary uses — he thus sums up 
 the whole conduct of the degraded devotee : — 
 " The residue thereof he maketh a god, even 
 his graven image : he falleth down unto it, and 
 woishippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith. 
 Deliver me, for thou art my god," — to which is 
 added, as in the account of the strong delusion 
 pourtrayed by the Apostle,* — " they have not 
 known nor understood ; for he hath shut their 
 eyes, that they cannot see ; and their hearts, 
 
 that they cannot understand He feedeth on 
 
 ashes : a deceived heart hath turned him aside, 
 that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say. Is there 
 not a lie in my right hand ?" Isaiah xliv. 17 — 20. 
 Moreover, what is farther observable is, that 
 the whole subject is connected with the final 
 restoration of the Jews. See ver. 21, 23, 26. 
 
 An allusion, it would appear, to the same future 
 crisis of fearful apostacy is made in chap. xii. of 
 this Prophecy, where the recital of the process of 
 idol fabrication forms, at least, part of a transaction 
 which agitates the whole world with strange 
 dread, for it is thus introduced : — " The isles 
 savv- it, and feared ; the ends of the earth were 
 
 * 2 Thess. ii. 2. 
 
256 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xlil. 11 18. 
 
 afraid, drew near, and came." Isaiah xli. 5. May 
 not this mean the congress of all nations at 
 Jerusalem, and then their mysterious emotions 
 of awe, as they contemplate their Leader, the 
 Antichrist, risen from the dead, and the formal 
 procedure of the False Prophet to deify him in 
 the Temple, the very presence chamber, as it 
 were, of the glorious Jehovah ? Then comes the 
 recital of, apparently, the scene now before us, 
 the making of the Beast's image : — "'^ They helped 
 every one his neighbour, and every one said to 
 his brother. Be of good courage. So the carpenter 
 encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth 
 with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying. 
 It is ready for the sodering : and he fastened 
 it with nails, that it should not be moved." 
 Ver. 6, 7. 
 
 And, now, that to elucidate this subject, we have 
 been led to Old Testament references, we surely 
 cannot overlook the history of Nebuchadnezzar's 
 image in the Prophet Daniel. From the position 
 of this history, in the sacred narrative — coming in, 
 as it does, after the mention of Nebuchadnezzar's 
 dream, in the second chapter, wherein, according 
 to Daniel's interpretation, was shown to the proud 
 monarch, by an image, the degeneracy and 
 ultimate extinction, notwithstanding every energy 
 it might put forth, of his ungodly kingdom — 
 we may reasonably suppose, that, intimidated into 
 
CH. xili. 11 18.] INTERPRETED. 251 
 
 submission, at first, to the Divine decree, his 
 unmortifiecl ambition presently reviving, was re- 
 sentfully showed against his former weakness, 
 by the image he erected of himself, entirely of 
 gold, as though to say his dominion should not 
 become deteriorated by any lapse of time. Thus, 
 then, this image, which all, moreover, were com^ 
 manded to worship on pain of death, may naturally 
 be regarded as typical of the image of him, in 
 whom, as we have seen, the empires, headed 
 up in Nebuchadnezzar, are yet to attain a final 
 organization, preparatory to their demolition by 
 the coming of the Son of man. Hence^ the ordeal 
 which God's servants — for example, Shadrach, 
 Meshach, and Abednego — went through of old, 
 may be recorded not only as history, but as a 
 rehearsal of what the witnesses against Antichrist 
 shall have to withstand when the False Prophet 
 causes his image to be made. 
 
 JVIiich had the wound by a sword, and did live.] 
 Here, again, allusion is made to the Antichrist, 
 as having revived out of death. But — what had 
 not been mentioned before, namely, that he had 
 received his fatal wound by the sword — is now 
 incidentally supplied. Doubtless, in some of the 
 battles predicted in the 11th chap, of Daniel, he 
 will fall under the hand of some bellicrerent 
 rival — and such event, being notorious, will give 
 the greater eclat to his resurrection, 
 
258 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. xiii. 11 18. 
 
 Ver. 15. A?id he had power to give life 
 (breath) unto the image of the beast, that the 
 image of the beast should both speak.] Human 
 art and ingenuity have accomplished marvellous 
 things, so that from the artificial bird have 
 issued the sweetest notes of the living songster ; 
 and by mechanical contrivance, on the same 
 principle, the automaton has been brought 
 to execute not only the movements, but the 
 vocal utterances of the human being. But here 
 is more than the effect of the most exquisite 
 art. By the power of the False Prophet, of 
 course imparted by Satan, the statue of the 
 Antichrist becomes endowed with vitality and 
 speech. Nor is this prodigy altogether without 
 recognition in the Old Testament. The Prophet 
 Habakkuk seems to have in view, at least 
 the process of its working, when he exclaims, — 
 " Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake ; 
 to the dumb stone. Arise, it shall teach ! 
 Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and 
 there is no breath at all in the midst of it." 
 Hab. ii. 19. The Prophet may be regarded, in 
 the last clause, not as contemplating the ultimate 
 vanity of the idolatrous design, but as aggravating 
 its enormity ; — as though he had said they seek 
 to elicit speech from that which is mere matter 
 fashioned by themselves. As to the literal inter- 
 pretation of this, it should not oifend the reader 
 
CH. xiii. 11 18.] INTERPRETED. 259 
 
 when he recollects that the dumb ass was em- 
 powered of old to address Balaam ; and God, who 
 did this to rebuke the madness of the Prophet, 
 may act similarly in the present case ; and, for the 
 exposure of man's idolatrous credulity, suffer this 
 great myrmidon of Satan to inspire the inanimate 
 statue, 
 
 A?id cause that as many as loould not worship 
 the linage of the heast should he killed.] Thus, we 
 may gather the character of the utterances which 
 the voice of the speaking image will enunciate — 
 that they will be encomiastic orations in honor of 
 the person of the Antichrist. For, failing of their 
 idolatrous aim will, doubtless, be the occasion of 
 the death to which the recusants shall be sen- 
 tenced by the same voice. And such death, 
 moreover, may be inflicted by the image. Just as 
 it is related of some of the horrible idols, which 
 are worshipped in heathen countries with human 
 sacrifices, that they are so made as to embrace the 
 devoted victims in their arms, and thus squeeze 
 them to death. After this manner, it may be, 
 that the image itself will be able to execute its 
 sentence on God's faithful witnesses. Nor is the 
 original at variance with this view, but the 
 contrary ; for the word " cause" is evidently 
 intended to predicate of the image some action, 
 additional to the speaking, also ascribed to it. 
 The only difference, it would appear, is that, 
 
S60 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. Xlli. 11 18. 
 
 in this case, the mode of death will be by- 
 decapitation. For, in chapter xx, where the 
 resurrection of the Antichrist's victims is de- 
 scribed—such as " had not worshipped the beast, 
 neither had received his mark upon their fore- 
 heads, or in their hands," * (plainly identical with 
 those contemplated in the clause before us,) 
 they are emphatically described as having been 
 beheaded. That the image of the beast may be 
 constructed so as thus to behead those obnoxious 
 to it, is easy to suppose. And its use, in this way, 
 independent of its other imposing effects, may, 
 of itself, render it an attractive idol, like the 
 Guillotine to the licentious populace of France, 
 at the close of the last century. 
 
 Ver. 16. And he causeth all, both small and 
 great, rich and poor, free arid bond, to receive a 
 mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads^ 
 This is a further exploit of the False Prophet 
 in honor of his patron. As in Pagan times, those 
 who devoted themselves to the worship of a 
 particular god were wont to brand themselves 
 with some emblem of him, in token of their 
 complete surrender to his service, so all classes 
 who do prove amenable to the False Prophet's 
 demand of adoration for the foregoing image, 
 he forthwith proceeds to distinguish with a 
 characteristic mark impressed upon the most 
 
 * Verse -i, 
 
CH. xiii. 11 18.] INTERPRETED. 261 
 
 exposed part of their persons, the forehead, or 
 the right hand; the former being part of their 
 very visage, the latter, or working hand, being 
 that most in requisition in their daily avocations. 
 To this mark, it is probable, that the Prophet 
 Zechariah alludes, in his predictions of the in- 
 cipient cleansing of Jerusalem and its inhabitants 
 from the consequences of Antichristian defilement, 
 at the second advent of Messiah : — " In that day," 
 says the Prophet, " there shall be a fountain 
 opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants 
 of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. And it 
 shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of 
 hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out 
 of the land, and they shall no more be remembered. 
 And also I will cause the prophets and the unclean 
 spirit to pass out of the land." Zech. xiii. 2. That 
 this relates, not to anything that obtained at our 
 Lord's first advent, is plain from the one fact, 
 not to mention others, that, at that time, and, 
 indeed, from after the restoration of the Jews 
 from their captivity in Babylon, they were not 
 addicted to idolatry. And that it does relate to 
 the period of their future return to their land, 
 from their present dispersion, is equally plain 
 from the testimony of numerous prophecies to 
 the effect that then idolatry shall be rampant 
 among them ; " the unclean spirit," as our Lord 
 says, being to return and take possession of 
 
262 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. xiii. 11 18. 
 
 that generation as his house, so that their last 
 state shall be worse than the first.* But how 
 does the Prophet Zechariah proceed ? " And 
 it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet 
 prophecy," (that is, attempt to continue the 
 now repudiated wickedness of the Antichristian 
 faction,) " then his father and his mother that 
 begat him shall say unto him, thou shalt not 
 live ; for thou speakest lies, in the name of 
 the Lord ; and his father and his mother that 
 begat him, shall thrust him through when he 
 prophesieth." Ver. 3. This, it would appear, 
 shall be done with the first awakening impulse 
 to national repentance. And as the parties thus 
 dealt with, it is reasonable to conclude, shall 
 have received the mark of the Beast, as his 
 votaries, no doubt to that part of their persons 
 thus disfigured, the blow of the indignant parents 
 shall be especially directed ; so that as many as, 
 at the outset, escape with their lives from the 
 family roof will show the double stigma of 
 apostacy and retribution ; some, on their hands ; 
 others, on their foreheads. Thus exiled and 
 fugitive, while their final judgment is still in 
 suspense at the hands of the Lord, they will, 
 of course, endeavour to evade discovery. And 
 now the Prophet recites their devices to this 
 end, — their denial that they followed the disgraced 
 
 * Matt. xii. 43 — 45. 
 
CH. xiii. 11 18.] INTERPRETED. 
 
 occupation, and their profession of that of the 
 husbandman : — " He shall say, I am no prophet, 
 I was an husbandman ; for man taught me to 
 keep cattle from my youth." Ver. 5. But, imme- 
 diately, if the forehead be free from suspicion, 
 the hands shall be appealed to : — " And one shall 
 say unto him. What are these wounds in thine 
 hands ?" At length the confession is extorted : — 
 " Then he shall answer. Those with which 
 I was wounded in the house of my friends." 
 Zech. xiii. 1 — 6. 
 
 What the exact mark of the beast will be, we 
 are not informed. But we may not unreasonably 
 infer, that it will be a literal impression, of 
 some kind, on the outward flesh, signifying, at 
 the same time, some impious characteristic, in 
 contrast with what will be imparted by the 
 Father's name sealed on the foreheads of the 
 144, 000 of the tribes of Israel. And thus, if 
 the latter be, the holy one, or Holiness* — the 
 attribute which was inscribed on the High 
 Priest's mitre of old, and which God formally 
 identifies with Himself, when He would swear 
 with an oathf and enjoin upon his people to be 
 like him % — the former will prove its converse. 
 And how the assumption of it will be glorified 
 ^n by mankind., we may conceive from the use 
 recently made in France of the revolu^tionary 
 
 * Exodus xxviii. 36. + Psalm Ixxxix. 35. \ Lev. xi. 45. 
 
264 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. xiii. 11 — 18. 
 
 watch-words, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. No 
 doubt, ill the madness which then seized upon 
 the French populace, they would have brooked to 
 be branded, in their persons, with any expressive 
 symbol of their so called principles, had such 
 been devised, and urged upon their adoption. 
 Surely, from these germinations of evil, in our 
 own day, we may gather hints concerning the 
 credible in the crisis which is coining. 
 
 Before turning from the consideration of the mark 
 of the beast, it may be instructive to observe, that 
 it seems it will be at the option of the parties 
 receiving it, whether it is impressed on the fore- 
 head, or, in the right hand. Both these parts of the 
 person, as already noticed, will be sufficiently obvious 
 to all with whom the votaries of Antichrist have 
 intercourse. But there is a degree of difference 
 between the two, in this respect, that the forehead 
 will, at once, meet the gaze of the spectator, whilst 
 the hand will not so immediately be recognized. 
 Thus, then, there will be a latitude of confession 
 allowed in the service of the Antichrist. They 
 who shall not care to attach themselves to him 
 with ostentatious effrontery, may take a more 
 obscure position in the ranks, and yet be recog- 
 nized. The pretended mother, unlike the real 
 one, could bear the cutting in twain of the living 
 child. Not so, in the service of God, He will 
 not accept a divided heart, nor a partial obedience. 
 
CH. xiii. 11 18.] INTERPRETED. 265 
 
 *' Ye cannot," says Jesus, '' serve God and 
 mammon." Matt. vi. 24. Therefore his mark must 
 be worn on the forehead, or not at all. There is 
 no alternative. "For whosoever shall be ashamed 
 of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of 
 man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own 
 glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy 
 angels." Luke ix. 26. 
 
 Ver. 17. A?td that no man might huy or sell, 
 saiw he that had the mark, [or] the name of the 
 beast, or the number of his name.] Omitting, as 
 above, the use of the first disjunctive particle " or," 
 and this is warranted by the latest revision of 
 the original text, we may consider the name of the 
 beast as put in apposition with his mark, and 
 then further resolved, by way of explanation, 
 into what follows, — " the number of his name^ 
 Thus all three expressions import the same thing, 
 only with progressive explicitness. And whilst 
 this view relieves the clause before us of what 
 otherwise seems an abrupt introduction of a new 
 idea, it accounts for the remarkable fact, that, in 
 the subsequent recitals of this Book, only one 
 Antichristian symbol is made mention of, as being 
 in operation. Thus, in chap. xv. 2, we read of 
 " them that had gotten the victory over the beast, 
 and over his image, and over the number of his 
 name."* Here the category, though apparently 
 
 * The reader will perhaps have noticed, that, in our authorized 
 VOL. II. \2. N 
 
266 THE APOCALYPSE [CH.xiii. 11 18. 
 
 designed to be formal and particular, omits the 
 mark, and the name of the beast. Again, in 
 chap. xix. 20, the description of the apostates 
 who perish is — " them that had received the 
 mark of the beast, and them that worshipped 
 his image ;" still only one term is retained. To 
 the same effect, the order of the clauses only 
 being inverted, we read, in chap. xx. 4, of such as 
 " had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, 
 neither had received his mark upon their fore- 
 heads, or in their hands." Here, also, only one 
 term is employed — and as though interchangeably 
 with the others. Lastly, in chap. xiv. ; whereas, 
 in ver. 11, the expression we meet with is '^ the 
 mark of his name y" the antecedent phrase to 
 which it manifestly refers, in ver. 9, is simply 
 " his mark.''^ 
 
 Thus, the inference is confirmed that, in the 
 verse before us, the several expressions are 
 designed to be substantially synonymous. The 
 mark of the Beast will be his name, and that 
 name will be constituted of a certain hieroglyphical 
 number. 
 
 From the use that will be made of it, as here 
 alleged, evidence is supplied to us of the despotic 
 
 version of this passage, there is included another clause, " over 
 his mark ;" but it is generally regarded as an interpolation of the 
 original text, and accordingly omitted in the latest editions 
 published. 
 
CH. xiii. 11 18.] INTERPRETED. 267 
 
 government of the Antichrist, in the case of his • 
 more distant subjects ; for the former verse, with 
 its double requisition, on all ranks, seems to 
 contemplate those more nearly connected with 
 the scene of Antichristian manifestation. Amongst 
 the former class no commercial transaction shall 
 be suffered to be carried on without his license ! 
 But the really awful feature of his despotism 
 is this ; — the mode in which alone his license will 
 be obtainable — the receiving of his mark. For it 
 will involve the devotion of the parties who 
 submit to it to utter perdition ; such being the 
 dreadful issue denounced by God upon those 
 who are thus seduced, in common with those who 
 worship the Beast, or his image : — *' If any man 
 worship the beast and his image, and receive 
 his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the 
 same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, 
 which is poured out without mixture into the 
 cup of his indignation ; and he shall be tormented 
 with fire and brimstone, in the presence of the 
 holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb : 
 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up 
 for ever and ever : and they have no rest day 
 nor night, who worship the beast and his image, 
 and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." 
 Chap. xiv. 9 — 11. Surely, this tremendous judg- 
 ment shews the heinousness of the crime upon 
 which it is denounced, and that it cannot amount 
 n2 
 
^68 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiii. 11 18. 
 
 to less than a deliberate identification of the 
 parties, body and soul, with the destiny of their 
 Satanic ruler. And, alas ! how few will escape it, 
 may well be our reflection as we contemplate the 
 progress which the commercial principle is even 
 now making amongst mankind ; whereby it may, 
 at length, come to pass that no prohibition shall 
 so address itself to their fears, in regard to self- 
 interest, as that of buying or selling. And, no 
 doubt, the Tyrant's policy will be evidenced in 
 his making this, the sanction of his arbitrary edict. 
 But it is not from the spirit of the age merely 
 that we are left to form our estimate of this future 
 dispensation to come upon the world. The sure 
 word of prophecy, which depicts the career of this 
 great Usurper, also exposes the character of the 
 apostacy of the last days, of which one feature is 
 emphatically said to be covetousness.* And may it 
 not be because of what it will, at last, lead to in the 
 reception of the Beast's mark, as well as for other 
 reasons, that this sin is elsewhere called idolatry 9f 
 Babylon, too, will then exert her intoxicating 
 influence upon the world, and " through the 
 abundance of her delicacies the merchants of the 
 earth" will have " waxed rich."+ Whence is it, 
 moreover, but from the lust after acquisition which 
 is to prevail amongst Israel in the latter day, that 
 we have such rebukes as the following in an 
 
 * 2 Tim. iii. 2. tCol. iii. o. | Rev. xviii. 8. 
 
CH. xiii. 11 18.] INTERPRETED. ^69 
 
 epistle addressed to the twelve tribes : — " Go to 
 noWj ye that say. To day or to morrow we will 
 go into such a city, and continue there a year, 
 and buy and sell, and get gain : Whereas ye 
 know not what shall be on the morrow. For 
 what is your life ? It is even a vapour, that 
 appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth 
 away. For that ye ought to say. If the Lord will, 
 we shall live, and do this, or that." James iv. 1 3 — 15. 
 Again, " Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl 
 for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your 
 riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth- 
 eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered ; and 
 the rust of them shall be a witness against you, 
 and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye 
 have heaped treasure together for the last days." 
 James v. 1 — 3. 
 
 Child of God ! how clear, in the light of this 
 future crisis, is the demonstration of that pro- 
 position : " If any man love the world, the love 
 of the Father is not in him." 1 John ii. 15. Oh ! 
 then, let not the bird-lime of its pursuits entangle 
 our feet ; but as the Apostle exhorts : " Let us 
 who are of the day, be sober, putting on the 
 breastplate of faith and love ; and for an helmet, 
 the hope of salvation." 1 Thess. v. 8. Be the 
 gracious motive also remembered: "For God 
 hath not appointed us to wrath," (the wrath of 
 the day of the Lord,) " but to obtain salvation by 
 our Lord Jesus Christ." Ver. 9. 
 
210 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiii. 11 18. 
 
 Ver. 18. Here is wisdom.] This emphatic 
 notice seems designed to awaken reverent attention 
 in the reader. It is equivalent to saying that in 
 the subject thus set before us, there is scope 
 for the exercise of the utmost spiritual sagacity. 
 Can we, then, approach the consideration of it 
 without lifting up our hearts to the Father of 
 lights, that he may endue us with all needful 
 penetration on the ocfcasion. And, oh ! how 
 encouraging the word with which God elsewhere 
 anticipates, as it were, the self-reproach of even 
 those children, who may have been heretofore 
 indifferent to the matter, namely, that he giveth 
 wisdom loithout upbraiding* May He graciously 
 vouchsafe this blessing now to the writer and 
 reader of these pages ! 
 
 Let him that hath understanding count the 
 number of the beast : for it is the number of a 
 man y and his nwnber is six hundred threescore 
 and six.] Attention being arrested by the 
 preceding notice, a clue is now given to aid 
 investigation. The mark of the Beast, that is, 
 his name, having resolved itself, as we have 
 seen, into the number of his name, we are here 
 informed what that number will be, " six hundred 
 threescore and six;" answering, respectively, to 
 the value of three Greek numerals, all of them 
 of the power of six. Can we fail, then, to 
 recognize herein the emblem of unity and yet 
 
 * Sre James i. 5. 
 
CH.xiii. 11 18.] INTERPRETED. 271 
 
 subordination, the mimicry doubtless of what 
 has obtained in the manifestation of the Triune 
 God — Father, Son, and Holy Ghost? For, as 
 the Son is the begotten of the Father ; and the 
 Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the 
 Son, and yet there is the one Divine essence ; 
 so is six hundred a multiple of sixty, and both 
 are multiples of six, and in the same ratio ; the 
 common root, six, pervading the units, the tens, 
 and the hundreds. But, why, it may be asked, 
 should the radical number be six, instead of 
 any other which might yield the same relative 
 products ? It is submitted in reply, that this 
 may be ordered of God to square with the 
 portraiture of evil which is given in the Book 
 of Proverbs, under the head of six things 
 specially hateful to God, which are represented 
 as culminating into seven, — the number of com- 
 pleteness, — and which all inhere in the character 
 of the Antichrist. See Prov.vi.16 — 19. Moreover, 
 the design may be to intimate that the blasphemy 
 yet to be developed in the Antichrist, was 
 rehearsed of old in his impious predecessor, 
 Nebuchadnezzar. For, it is remarkable, in re- 
 spect to the golden image which he erected for 
 idolatrous worship — type, as we have seen, of 
 the image of the Antichrist — that its proportions 
 were adjusted after the same numerical standard. 
 Its " height," we read, " was threescore cubits. 
 
272 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiii. 11 — 18. 
 
 and the breadth thereof six cubits." Dan. iii. 1. 
 According to this, then, perhaps we have, in 
 the corresponding elements of the number of 
 the beast, — the threescore and the six, — the 
 symbol of the Antichrist, and the False Prophet 
 combined ; whilst in the " six hundred," — not 
 supplied in connexion with Nebuchadnezzar's 
 image, — we have shadowed forth the supreme 
 headship of Satan, rivalling, as it were, the 
 Fatherhood of God. Thus, the number, *' six 
 hundred threescore and six, " indicating the 
 relation of the Antichrist to his unseen superior, 
 who energizes in him, may symbolize the mystery 
 of Satan, for the initiation of his votaries, — 
 counter to that of God, revealed in Christ, 
 '^ in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom 
 and knowledge." Col. ii. 3. 
 
 But not only will such number be adopted to 
 this end ; it will, also, no doubt, in sundry 
 distributions, spell out some actual name of the 
 Antichrist, thus completing the identification of 
 his person to the eye of faith, as the subject of 
 Prophetic delineation throughout the Scriptures. 
 Various are the names which have been suggested 
 on this head, and much ingenuity has been 
 employed to render their application plausible. 
 Nor, indeed, are efforts in this direction incon- 
 sistent in those who believe that the Antichrist 
 has already been revealed — as, for example, in 
 
CH. xiii. 11 18.] INTERPRETED. 27S 
 
 the Church and Pope of Rome. But as such 
 view has not been taken in the present work, 
 the Author feels that he need not embarrass his 
 readers with speculation on the subject. The 
 fact is, as the party contemplated is to answer to 
 numerous other marks, and of a more unequivocal 
 nature, such as his supernatural endowment, 
 universal empire, &c., the dutiful and wise course 
 would seem to be, to leave to the time of their 
 development the fixing of the name. Then, we 
 may not doubt, but that the comparison of the 
 numeral in question with some of the Antichrist's 
 assumed titles, will serve to emblazon, as it were, 
 his identity, so that no servant of God can be 
 deceived. 
 
 After all, it remains to remind the child of 
 God, that it is not for the Antichrist but for 
 Christ that he is called to wait. Nor is the 
 Revelation of the former to precede the Advent 
 of the latter ; at least, to him. On the contrary, 
 as already stated, the gathering of the saints to 
 meet their Lord in the air, will be the initiating 
 event to all others in the day of the Lord. Christ 
 will first come for his saints ; then, in connexion 
 with a revival of Jewish testimony on the earth, 
 will Satan's master- piece be launched — the Anti- 
 christ ; and, finally, the Lord will come with his 
 saints to take to himself his great power and 
 reign. 
 
274 THE APocAL-ypsE [cH. xiii. 11 18. 
 
 To see that this is the order of events must 
 surely be a relief to the heart of the Christian who 
 realizes the horrors of Antichrist's career. For, 
 thus, he may indulge in longings for the presence 
 of his beloved Master, without the intimidating 
 apprehension of such intervening ordeal — the 
 frame of spirit which it appears to be the design 
 of 2 Thess. ii. to encourage. See vol. i. p. 33. 
 Reader, may this frame be ours ; and let us gird 
 up the loins of our mind accordingly, holding 
 ourselves in readiness for our promised enlarge- 
 ment from our present chrysalis state in the flesh- 
 What if there be incredulity on this point in the 
 professing Church, affecting even some of God's 
 dear children ? Shall we allow it to affect the 
 immutability of the Divine Word ? Is it not 
 revealed to us as the one uniting hope of believers 
 in every generation, to which the Holy Ghost is 
 wont to minister; so that the more his sanctifying 
 operations abound in us, the more intensely we 
 must long for this happy consummation ? As the 
 Apostle says : — " Ourselves also, which have the 
 first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan 
 within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, 
 the redemption of our body." Rom. viii. 23. 
 
CH. xiv. 1 5.] INTERPRETED. 275 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 SECTION FIRST. 
 ' Verses 1 — 5. 
 
 1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and 
 with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's 
 niame written in their foreheads. 
 
 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, 
 and as the voice of a gi-eat thunder : and I heard the voice of 
 harpers harping with their harps : 
 
 3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and 
 before the four beasts, and the elders : and no man could learn 
 that song but the hundred and forty andtowx thousand, which were 
 redeemed from the earth. 
 
 4 These are they which were not defiled with women ; for they 
 are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever 
 he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first- 
 fi-uits unto God and to the Lfimb. 
 
 b And in their mouth was found no guile : for they are without 
 fault before the throne of God. 
 
 In entering upon the consideration of this chapter, 
 we must bear in mind that the visions recorded 
 in it, like those in the two preceding chapters, 
 are ^uppleinentary, and are designed as a prelude 
 to the account of the pouring out of the vials, 
 to enable us the better to understand the thread 
 of the narrative, dropped at chap. xi. 19, and 
 taken up in chap. xv. 5. 
 
276 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 1 5. 
 
 In this first vision, we have the Lord Jesus 
 presented to us and his chosen band, who shall 
 not have received the mark of the beast, but shall 
 have his Father's name written in their forehead?. 
 
 Ver. 1. And I looked , and, lo, a Lamb.] It 
 should be " the Lamb," the title of our blessed 
 Lord, which, coming after the mention of the 
 Antichrist as " the beast," is, of course, designed 
 to stand in distinguishing contrast. 
 
 Stood on the mount Sion.] There is no reason 
 why this should not be regarded as the literal 
 Mount Sion, the same which is continually alluded 
 to in the Old Testament Scriptures, especially 
 the book of Psalms. And that such locality, 
 connected as it is with Jerusalem, is destined to 
 be the scene of marvellous events, we gather 
 from numerous prophecies. The Prophet Joel, 
 for example, speaking of the phenomena which 
 will usher in the advent of Christ to the world, 
 thus finishes his recital : — " And it shall come 
 to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name 
 of the Lord, shall be delivered: for in Mount 
 Zton and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, 
 as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant 
 whom the Lord shall call." Joel ii. 32. Again, 
 in the fifty-ninth of Isaiah, we read : — " And 
 the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto 
 them that turn from transgression in Jacob, 
 saith the Lord." Ver. 20. Thus it appears that 
 
CH. xiv. 1 5.] INTERPRETED. ^77 
 
 Mount Zion will be the scene of the Lorv 's 
 manifestation, when he first appears on earth. 
 Nor is this inconsistent with what we read in 
 Zechariah : — " His feet shall stand in that day 
 upon the Mount of Olives." Zee. xiv. 4. For 
 this statement is preceded by mention of his 
 going forthi and fighting against the confederate 
 nations, and surely he may " go forth " from 
 Zion. Indeed, this is substantially affirmed by 
 the Apostle Paul, where quoting Isaiah lix. 20., 
 he varies the precise words, and says : — " There 
 shall come out of Zion the deliverer, and shall 
 turn away ungodliness from Jacob." Rom. xi. 26. 
 And here the second Psalm comes in with its 
 confirming testimony, for in connexion with the 
 breaking of the nations with a rod of iron, and 
 dashing them in pieces like a potter's vessel, 
 the announcement is made, as of a preliminary 
 event : — " Yet have I set my king upon my 
 holy hill of Zion. ^'' Psalm ii. 6. See also Obadiah, 
 verses 17 and 21, wherein we have the same 
 association of the locality of " Mount Zion " 
 with the deliverance of the Jewish people. 
 
 And with him an hundred forty and four 
 thousand^ "We learn elsewhere, (chap, xix.) 
 that the Lord Jesus will come, accompanied by 
 " the armies of heaven," — his glorified saints — 
 to consummate the destruction of the Antichrist 
 and his adherents. But they shall not be the 
 
278 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 1 5. 
 
 only instrumentality employed on the occasion. 
 We have here in this " hundred forty and four 
 thousand" his earthly executive, which He will 
 also put into requisition — the same, doubtless, 
 to whom we have had allusion already in the 
 seventh chapter. For though the definite article 
 is not here given, and it is merely said, " an 
 hundred forty and four thousand," yet every thing 
 connected with the description, in both cases, 
 seems to correspond so accurately, that we 
 cannot forbear identifying the two parties. See 
 on chap. vii. vol. i. pp. 388 — 393. 
 
 Hamng his Father^s name written in their 
 foreheads^ In the most recent revision of the 
 original text, this clause reads, ' having his name 
 and his Father's name written in their foreheads.' 
 The community of this distinguishing mark con- 
 firms what has been just said as to the identity 
 of this company with the sealed ones in chap. vii. 
 And as the Lamh is contrasted with the Beasts 
 of the preceding chapter, so these now are fitly 
 opposed to the votaries of the Antichrist. What 
 the precise import of the name in question, and 
 of its inscription on their foreheads, has been 
 already hinted. See p. 263., and in vol. I.,- pp. 
 386, 387. 
 
 'J 'he Divine purpose was to preserve this chosen 
 band amidst the inflictions of wrath, to come 
 upon the guilty, under the trumpet plagues ; and 
 
CH. xiv. 1 5.] INTERPRETEI>. 219 
 
 accordingly before the angels began to sounds 
 the process of then* sealing was rehearsed. It 
 is also the Divine purpose to give them immunity 
 from harm under the vial plagues, yea, to use 
 them afterwards, as consummators of vengeance 
 upon the rebellious nations ; and hence, in this 
 opening vision, they are now seen again wearing 
 the same symbol of protection, and marshalled, 
 moreover, for the expedition before them, under 
 their glorious King. 
 
 Yei\2. And I heard a voice from heaven.] First 
 of all the Apostle sees on Mount Zion the Lamb, 
 and his band of sealed ones. Now, in the notes 
 of praise which are chaunted in heaven^ he hears 
 what is significant of the procedure in which they 
 on earth are about to engage. 
 
 As the voice of many waters, and as the voice 
 of a g^^eat thunder^ Both these similitudes are 
 employed elsewhere ; the first, to characterize 
 the glorious utterance of our blessed Lord. " His 
 voice," says St. John, referring to the opening 
 scene of this Book, " was as the sound of many 
 waters." Kev. i. 15. And Ezekiel, describing 
 the vision he had of the glory or the God of 
 Israel, says, " His voice was like the voice of 
 many waters." Ezek. xliii. 2. 
 
 The second similitude, we find used in the 
 rehearsal of the action of the first of the four 
 living creatures : — " I saw," says St. John, " when 
 
^80 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 1 5. 
 
 the Lamb opened one of the seals, and 1 heard 
 one of the four living creatures, saying, as it 
 were, with a voice of thunder." Rev. vi. 1. Gk. 
 Combining together these similitudes they set 
 forth the liquid and melodious strains of the 
 heavenly choir, with their occasional bursts, as 
 it were, of Alleluias in full chorus. 
 
 And I heard the voice of harpers harping with 
 their harps."] The reading of this clause, which 
 perhaps possesses most authority, is : — ^ And the 
 voice which I heard was as that of harpers harping 
 with their harps.' Whichever reading we adopt, 
 the idea is conveyed of the heavenly melody 
 combining with it the sweetness of the harp. 
 See on chap. v. 8. 
 
 Ver. 3. And they sung as it were a new song 
 before the throne, and before the four beasts, 
 (living creatures,) and the elders.] '.I.'he proper 
 reading (and the coherence of the context re- 
 quires it) is, ' they sing' — the present tense. The 
 parties thus engaged, as they are distinct from 
 the 144,000, we now see to be also distinct 
 from the glorified saints of this and past dispen- 
 sations, represented, as has been observed, by the 
 living creatures, and the elders. And who can 
 such parties be, if we look beyond the angelic 
 ranks, but the martyred ones under the Antichrist, 
 whose resurrection, clearly stated in chap, xx., 
 is here implied ; and to whom the promise is that 
 
CH. xiv. 1 5.] INTERPRETED. 281 
 
 they shall be associated with our Lord in the 
 exercise of that judicial power over the nations 
 with which he will commence His reign, as we 
 have already gathered from Psalm ii. See also, 
 Rev. ii. 26 — 28. And, this is a clue to the 
 further understanding of the ''7ieio song''' which 
 now calls for consideration. It has been already 
 mentioned as sung in heaven, the choir there 
 being precentors, as it were, to the 144,000, 
 on earth \ just as the four living creatures and 
 the twenty four elders, in chapter v., lead the 
 adoring praise of all creation, whilst the lamb 
 takes possession of the sealed book. 
 
 To pursue the subject, then, let us first tarn 
 to the Prophet Isaiah, ch. xlii. At verse 8. 
 Jehovah, giving his commission to Messiah, thus 
 speaks, in language which seems to contemplate 
 the worship of the Antichrist and his image : — 
 " I am the Lord ; that is my name : and my 
 glory will I not give to another, neither my 
 praise to graven images." We observe here the 
 solemn assertion of God's incommunicable glory, 
 as though it were invaded, by some audacious 
 usurper, exalted as an object of Divine worship. 
 AYhereupon the prophetic strain proceeds : — 
 "Behold, the former things are come to pass, 
 and new things do I declare; before they spring- 
 forth, I tell you of them." That is, — as God 
 had foretold the climax to which man's wickedness 
 
 VOL. II. — 13. o 
 
282 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 1 5. 
 
 should reach, and his words had been verified 
 by the event, — so He will now disclose, for the 
 consolation of the faithful remnant, the righteous 
 issue which He has, as surely determined on. 
 And how is this introduced ? By the animating 
 words, addressed to all the inhabitants of the 
 earth, even of the most desolate regions ; — 
 *^ Sing unto the Lord a new song ;" — signifying 
 that, at length, the promised redemption begins 
 to take effect, and the government of the 
 world in righteousness will henceforth proceed. 
 Accordingly, a following verse represents Messiah 
 the great Redeemer, as taking to himself his 
 great power, wherewith to accomplish this glorious 
 revolution : — *' The Lord shall go forth as a 
 mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like 
 A MAN OF WAR I he shall cry, yea, roar ; he 
 shall prevail" (or behave himself mightily) 
 " against his enemies." ver. 13. What is this, 
 but a rendering into plain prophecy, of the 
 vision of the Lamb seen on Mount Zion, with 
 his hundred forty- and -four thousand chosen 
 followers, about to tread down the An ti christian 
 nations ; and of the new song heard from heaven 
 as the appointed psean for the holy warriors. 
 
 It would appear, also, that it is in con- 
 templation of the victories of the Lord Jesus, 
 here represented, that the "new song" is introduced 
 in Ps. xcvi. and again in Ps. xcviii. The strain of 
 
CH. xiv. 1 — 5.] INTERPRETED. 283 
 
 the latter is particularly applicable : — " sing unto 
 the Lord a new song; fcr he hath done marvellous 
 things ; his right hand and his holy arm hath gotten 
 him the victory. The Lord hath made known 
 his salvation ; his righteousness hath he openly 
 shewed in the sight of the heathen." Ver. I, 2, 
 This clearly denotes a career of conquest over 
 enemies. And that Jewish saints will actually 
 bear arms on the occasion, is equally plain, from 
 the language of Psalm cxlix.: "Praise ye the 
 Lord, sing unto the Lord a new song, and his 
 praise in the congregation of saints. Let Israel 
 rejoice in him that made him : let the children 
 of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them 
 praise his name in the dance : let them sing 
 praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. 
 For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people : 
 he will beautify the meek with salvation. Let 
 the saints be joyful in glory : let them sing 
 aloud upon their beds. Let the high j)i'aises of 
 God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword 
 in their hand ; to execute vengeance upon the 
 heathen, and punishments upon the people ; to 
 bind their kings with chains, and their nobles 
 with fetters of iron ; to execute upon them the 
 judgment written ; this honour have all his 
 saints. Praise ye the Lord." Ver. 1 — 9. 
 
 Surely we have here the same subject, the 
 warfare of the chosen band on Mount Zion ; 
 o2 
 
284 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 1 5. 
 
 the hundred forty-and-four thousand, headed by 
 then' Divine leader, the true Joshua, who is to 
 install his people Israel into their inheritance. 
 
 And no man could learn that song hut the 
 hundred and forty and four thousand.'] The " new 
 song/' like the striking of a key-note, first 
 sounds from heaven, as we have just gathered 
 from the previous clause ', and now it appears 
 to be taken up by this company below. They 
 are initiated into its import, and, it would seem, 
 they only. Perhaps this distinction is conferred 
 on them, to signify that as enlisted under the 
 banner of Jesus, it is specially given to them to 
 appreciate the wisdom of the Divine procedure, and 
 its ultimate happy consequences to all mankind. 
 
 Which toere redeemed from the earthy To 
 imderstand this description of them, we must 
 remember that the second beast causes all them 
 that dwell upon the earth to worship the first 
 beast. Hence, they who hold out against the 
 awful temptation, are, after some manner, not 
 of the earth. And here we learn what this means. 
 They were redeemed from it, not taken bodily 
 out of it, but so purchased, as the word signifies, 
 by the blood of the Lamb, as to become specially 
 His people, severed by Divine grace from the 
 corrupt mass around them. There is nothing in 
 these words to indicate, what is commonly sup- 
 posed, that this is a heavenly scene, and that the 
 
CH. xiv. 1 5.] INTERPRETED. 285 
 
 parties in question have been translated from the 
 earth. 
 
 Ver. 4. These are theij which toere not defiled 
 with icotnen ; for they are virgi?is.] When we 
 remember that the character of the latter day is 
 elsewhere revealed to be that of licentiousness 
 and sensuality, it is quite congruous that we 
 should take this description literally, and as 
 intimating that the 144,000, to whom it is applied, 
 are uncontaminated by the prevailing wickedness. 
 It has been already remarked,* that the enticement 
 of Israel of old into fornication and idolatry by 
 Balak, king of Moab, and Baalam his adviser — 
 types of the Antichrist and the False Prophet 
 in the coming time, — was effected by means of 
 Midianitish women sent into their camp. And 
 when the crisis of retribution arrived, one thousand 
 out of every tribe were formed into a detachment 
 to go against the Midianites, and exact vengeance 
 for their crime. Moreover, as Phinehas their leader 
 was filled, we know, with a holy indignation 
 against the workers of iniquity, we may reason- 
 ably suppose that this same emotion in measure 
 appertained to all. To these striking precedents is 
 to be added the fact, that of the elected thousands 
 who composed this expedition, when the census 
 was taken, not one was missing. 
 
 Now, putting together all these circumstances, 
 
 * See Vol I. pp. G91— :3Q.'}. 
 
286 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 1 5. 
 
 — that the anti typical scene before us shotdd 
 correspond in regard to the character of the 
 chosen individuals, as it manifestly does in its 
 other features, is what we should expect. Ac- 
 cordingly, such is depicted to be the case, so that 
 when the cup of Babylon's fornication is circulating 
 among the nations, and" the doctrme " (or teaching) 
 " of Balaam" is being acted on even in the 
 Churches,* we here gather that to the honour of 
 these Israelites, and not forgotten by their Divine 
 Master, they will, like Lot in Sodom, have 
 eschewed the base temptation and refused " the 
 voice of the charmers charming never so wisely." 
 These are they which follow the Lamb whither- 
 soever he ffoeth.] By the typical history, just 
 referred to, wherein the plot laid against Israel 
 by means of the Midianitish women is followed 
 by the separation of a thousand out of every tribe, 
 as the Lord's avengers upon the Midianites, 
 having been led to recognize the twelve thousand 
 out of every tribe in this vision, as being to engage 
 in a similar career of retribution against the 
 Antichristian hosts of the latter days, we now 
 seem to have such view confirmed by the appli- 
 cation to them of the present description, suitable, 
 as it is, to the aspect of parties engaged on a 
 martial expedition. '.I'he phraseology indeed, 
 following the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, 
 * See Rev. ii. 14—20. 
 
CH. xiv. 1 — 5.] INTERPRETED. 287 
 
 remarkably accords with the victorious progress 
 assigned to Israel of old, under the leadership 
 of Joshua, when he successively subdued the 
 Canaanitish kings ; for the record is several times 
 emphatically repeated : " Joshua passed" from 
 one city to another, " and all Israel with him." 
 Josh. X. 29, 31, 34, S6, 38, 43. 
 
 Perhaps, as celebrating this course of warfare, 
 we may further refer to Ps. Ixviii., which begins, 
 it is remarkable, with a war-cry, the same with 
 which Moses was wont to accompany the march- ^ 
 ings of Israel of old in the wilderness : " Let God \ 
 arise, let his enemies be scattered : let them also ■ 
 that hate him flee before him." As the Psalm 
 proceeds, further points of correspondence come 
 into notice : " O God, when thou wentest forth 
 before thy people ; when thou didst march through 
 the wilderness ; the earth shook, the heavens also, 
 dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai 
 itself was moved at the presence of God, the God 
 of Israel : . . . . The Lord gave the word : great was 
 the company (the army) of those that published 
 it." Thus, we seem to have set before us, in 
 accordance with this vision in the Apocalypse, the 
 Lord at the head of a mighty host, marching with 
 imposing progress. And then follows the utter 
 dismay of the Antichristian ranks : — " Kings of 
 armies did flee apace;" that is, as in the margin, 
 *' did flee, did flee^ — the expression repeated to 
 
288 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 1 5. 
 
 betoken consternation. All these striking events, 
 and more that might be adduced from the same 
 source, sufficiently show that, herein, the mind of 
 the Spirit contemplates not merely the typical 
 past, when God conducted Israel out of Egypt, 
 but more especially the future, which has so many 
 coincident features in the vision before us. 
 
 These were redeemed from among men, being 
 the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb.] This 
 reiterates the distinguishing mercy of which this 
 chosen band shall have been the subjects. But, 
 besides the idea of preservation amidst judgments, 
 which the former allusion to them more especially 
 contains (ver. 3.), here is included the award of 
 an honorable precedence above all who shall be 
 eventually saved on the earth. To them shall 
 attach the dignity of being the first-fruits unto 
 God and to the Lamb — samples of that Divine power 
 and protection which will afterwards embrace 
 the whole nation of Israel and mankind at large. 
 The first-born, we know, whether of men or 
 animals, were particularly owned of God from 
 the beginning ; * and Israel is thus denominated 
 by way of endearment : " Israel is my first-born." 
 Exodus iv. 22. Jer. iv. 22. Similarly, the first- 
 fruits of the produce of the earth were claimed of 
 God and set apart for his service ; and this, we 
 know, was typical of the relation occupied by the 
 
 * Numbers iii. 13 ; Leviticus sxvii. 26, 27. 
 
CH. Xiv. 1 5.] INTERPRETED. S89 
 
 risen Saviour to tlie saints that sleep in Him ; and 
 again, by the Pentecostal Church, endued with 
 the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven ; for on 
 the very day when the sheaf of first-fruits was 
 waved before God, our blessed Lord rose from 
 the dead;* and the fiftieth day afterwards, when 
 the wave-loaves — also called a first-fruits — were 
 ofiered, was the day on w^hich occurred the 
 effusion of the Spirit.f 
 
 But, here, a point of some importance as bearing 
 on the present application of the term first-fruits 
 to the 144,000 of the tribes of Israel, is not to be 
 overlooked — that is, that the Pentecostal Church 
 was a gathering exclusively of Jetos ; a nucleus 
 for the attraction of the nation, ^f they would, to 
 the standard of Christ. And in obvious keeping 
 with this^are the recorded sermons of Peter to his 
 assembled brethren, wherein, exhorting them to 
 repentance, he announces to them that the issue 
 of that repentance would be, that " God would 
 send Jesus which before was preached to them;" 
 whose advent he emphatically connects with the 
 introduction of " the times of restitution of all 
 things," that is, with the reign of Messiah over 
 them. Acts iii. 19 — 21. Nor is the Church of 
 God now, composed of Jew and Gentile, as the 
 
 * Compare Lev. xxiii. 10, 11, and Mark xvi. ], 2, 0, 9, with 
 1 Cor. XV. 20. 
 
 f Compare Lev." xxiii. 15 — 17, with Acts ii. 1, &c. 
 
 o3 
 
290 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. XIV. I 5, 
 
 body of Christ — the special mystery first con- 
 fided to the ministry of the Apostle Paul — to be 
 esteemed a mere accretion of the Pentecostal 
 nucleus ; but rather an entirely new piece of the 
 Divine workmanship, into which, though that 
 nucleus has become merged, its resuscitation in 
 Jewish elements again, we are given to expect. 
 Accordingly, whilst the typical application, gene- 
 rally, of the wave-loaves in Lev. xxiii. to the 
 Church of this dispensation is fully admitted, 
 may not the real antitype, in the way of strict 
 interpretation, be the 144,000 of Israel here 
 mentioned ? And, surely, this suggestion derives 
 confirmation from the Epistle of James, wherein 
 the Apostle uses these remarkable words : " Of 
 his own will begat he us, with the word of truth, 
 that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his 
 creatures," James i. 18. Allowing to this Epistle 
 a prophetic aspect, of which it bears many indi- 
 cations, as we have already seen;* may we not 
 identify with the 144,000, the believing community 
 which is thus denominated first-fruits, — composed 
 also, as we find them to be of a body of the twelve 
 tribes ? For, to such, the inscription of the Epistle 
 belongs : " James, a servant of God, and of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are 
 scattered abroad greeting." James i. 1. 
 
 Ver. 5. And in their mouth loas found no 
 
 * See Vol. I. pp. 46, 101—103, 199. 
 
CH. Xiv. 1 5.] INTERPRETED. 291 
 
 guile.^ Thus they will have stood in contrast with 
 the multitude around them. For, amongst other 
 characteristics of the perilous times in question, 
 we read that " men shall be ... . truce-breakers .... 
 traitors." 2 Tim. iii. 3, 4. They shall have been 
 thus opposed, also, to the great leader of the 
 Apostacy ; for treachery will eminently attach 
 to him, as we read in Psalm Iv : — " He hath put 
 forth his hands against such as be at peace with 
 him ; he hath broken his covenant. The words of 
 his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was 
 in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet 
 were they drawn swords." Ver. 20, 21. More- 
 over, herein, in their guilelessness of spirit, shall 
 these sealed ones be conformed to their Lord 
 himself; for the same thing substantially is applied 
 to him, in the Prophet Isaiah: — "neither was 
 any deceit in his mouth." Isaiah liii. 9. Their 
 distinction will be that of Nathanael of old, of 
 whom our Lord said: " Behold an Israelite indeed, 
 in whom is no guile ! " John i. 47. See also 
 Zeph. iii. 13. 
 
 Perhaps it is the company thus characterized, 
 and occupying a position, let us remember, " on 
 Mount Zion^^ (ver. 1.) to whom the Psalmist makes 
 a special reference when he says, " Who shall 
 ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall 
 stand in his holy place ? He that hath clean hands 
 and a pure heart ; who hath not lifted up his soul 
 unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully." Ps. xxiv. 3, 4. 
 
292 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. XIV. 1 5. 
 
 Again, to the same effect: " Lord, who shall 
 abide in thy tabernacle ? who shall dwell in thy 
 holy hill ? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh 
 righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart." 
 Psalm XV. 1, 2. See also Isaiah Ixiii. 8. 
 
 For they are without fault before the throne of 
 God.'\ The last clause, " before the throne of 
 God" is omitted in the most approved editions of 
 the original text. And its interpolation, here, has 
 served to obscure the understanding of the passage, 
 as implying that the 144,000 constitute a company 
 in heaven; whereas, we have already seen that 
 they stand upon Mount Zion, that is, on the 
 earth. The incongruity is at once removed by 
 the amended reading ; and the simple truth stated 
 is, that they are "without blame." As in the case 
 of Daniel, in the court of Darius, their enemies 
 shall not be able to find any occasion against 
 them, except concerning the law of their God. 
 Indeed, it is remarkable that almost the very words 
 of this clause are employed by the Spirit in his 
 commendation of Daniel: — " He was faithful, 
 neither was there any error oy fault found in liim.'" 
 Dan. vi. 4. 
 
(•ll.xiv. () — 1-J.] INTERPRETED. 293 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 SECTION SECOND. 
 
 Verses G— 13. 
 
 () And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having 
 the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, 
 and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. 
 
 7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him ; 
 for the hour of his judgment is come : and worship him that made 
 heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. 
 
 8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, 
 is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the 
 wine of the wrath of her fornication. 
 
 9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice. 
 If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark 
 in his forehead, or in his hand, 
 
 10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which 
 is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation ; and 
 he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of 
 the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb : 
 
 11 And the smoke of their torment asceiuleth up for ever and 
 ever : and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast 
 and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. 
 
 12 Here is the patience of the saints ; here (o-e they that keep 
 the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 
 
 13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me. Write, 
 Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth : Yea, 
 ssiith the Spirit, that they may rest fi-om their labours ; and their 
 works do follow them. 
 
 Here are further supplementary visions to enable 
 us the better to apprehend the character of that 
 crisis when the vials of wrath shall be poured out 
 on the earth. As we have just seen, there will 
 
294 THE APOCALPYSE [OH. xiv. 6 — IS. 
 
 be a special election of righteous ones from the 
 tribes of Israel, who, having been preserved from 
 apostacy and judgment, shall eventually constitute 
 Messiah's earthly executive, when, at his appearing, 
 he shall goloith, personally, against the Anti- 
 christian hosts. We are now further taught, that 
 as in the case of the plagues of Egypt, so prior to 
 the outpouring of the vials, a merciful warning 
 of their approach will be given to mankind, if, 
 peradventure, they will, even at the last moment, 
 renounce their idolatry and do homage to the true 
 God. Again, the knell of Babylon's downfall is 
 sounded, — that city which will yet be the prolific 
 centre of all iniquity. And to intimidate from 
 fellowship in any way with the Antichrist, who 
 has now attained the height of his ascendency, the 
 most terrible retribution is denounced against his 
 votaries. 
 
 Ver. 6. A?icl I saw another angel fly in the 
 midst of ] tea veil. '\ The denomination of this angel, 
 " another,^'' is in relation to the similar agency 
 recounted in ch. viii. 13. There — one of those 
 heavenly intelligences, " that excel in strength," 
 had published a warning note, preliminary to the 
 last three of the trumpet plagues. He is now 
 succeeded on a like errand, by one of his fellows, 
 who is represented in the same way, ^^ flying in 
 the midst of heaven. 
 
CH. xiv. 6 — 13.] INTERPRETED. ^95 
 
 It is also remarkable that the Apostle Paul, 
 cautionmg the Galatians against the imposition on 
 them of another gospel, that is, one contradictory 
 to what they had already received, supposes this 
 kind of demonstration to be resorted to, as cal- 
 culated to overcome all incredulity. 
 
 Having the everlasting Gospel.'] The kingdom 
 of Messiah being an " everlasting kingdom, ^^ as 
 described in Daniel vii. 27. The Gospel or glad 
 tidings specially referring to that kingdom is 
 accordingly here called " the everlasting Gospel.''^ 
 Our Lord, in his prophecy upon the Mount, 
 denominates it simply, the " Gospel of the king- 
 dom," the preaching of which/ is to usher in what 
 he emphatically calls " the end." Indeed, in the 
 context, he sufficiently explains the import of the 
 expression, so that we may see its correspondence ; 
 for he introduces it with the demonstrative 
 pronoun this — " this Gospel of the kingdom shall 
 be preached in all the world for a witness unto all 
 nations." Matt. xxiv. 14. And the only ante- 
 cedent which can be recognized in the context, 
 is the announcement of our Lord himself in 
 connection with the tribulation of the last days : 
 " He that endureth to the end shall be saved;" 
 ver 13. That is, the faithful survivors of the terrible 
 ordeal through which mankind shall then pass, 
 will at length be brought into the enjoyment of 
 the promised kingdom.* 
 
 ♦ See Apocalyptic Interpretation, pp. G8j fd9. 
 
296 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 6 13. 
 
 A renewal of testimony, like that of the Apostles 
 of old, to this blessed prospect, will also be going 
 on throughout the cities of Israel;* but this 
 angelic proclamation of it will be a last signal, as 
 it were, of its approach, encouraging the righteous, 
 and warning the wicked. 
 
 To preach unto them that dwell on the earth.^ 
 As the word " earth " here, may with equal 
 propriety be translated " land,^^ it appears such 
 alteration should, be adopted ; for, otherwise, the 
 following clause is but a repetition of this. 
 Whereas, with the alteration in question, the 
 proposition is, that the angel is commissioned to 
 publish his message, with a special inclusion of the 
 occupants of Palestine, composed of the Jews 
 and the Antichristian assemblage of Gentiles. 
 
 And to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, 
 and peopleI\ Thus, the heavenly proclamation will 
 be co-extensive with the power of the Antichrist; 
 for, over these very distributions of mankind, his 
 influence is described as prevailing. See ch. xiii. 
 7, 8. And in such corresponding provision of the 
 antidote to meet the bane, how manifest the Divine 
 mercy ! 
 
 Yer. 7. Saying with a loud voice, Fear God and 
 give glory to him.] This is a usual form of exhor- 
 tation in the Scriptures, touching our duty towards 
 God. It is true He is all-sufficient and self- 
 sufficient ; and in the sense of communication^ the 
 
 * See Matt. x. 22, 23. 
 
CH. xiv. 6 13.] INTERPRETED. 297 
 
 creature can impart nothing to Him. But whilst 
 we confess our own unworthiness, we can acknow- 
 ledge what He is, and what He hath graciously- 
 done for us, thus showing forth His praises ; and 
 this is the end of our redemption. Moreover, to 
 " fear God and give glory to Him," is sometimes 
 the expression for repentance ;* and so the angelic 
 summons is especially suitable to the juncture in 
 question ; for, as the next clause implies, it will 
 be one marked by the prevalence of even gross 
 idolatry. 
 
 Butj besides this general improvement of these 
 words, we should not overlook that, in their strict 
 interpretation, they have a peculiar import, which 
 distinguishes them from the Gospel message by 
 which the Church of God is now being gathered ; 
 for the latter simply presents to the sinner — God in 
 Christ reconciling the world unto Himself; and it 
 is only by his reception of this grace that the sinner 
 can respond to the Divine call made upon him. 
 But, here mankind are cited not to the con- 
 templation of God's redeeming grace, but to 
 submission to Him, who, as the insulted Creator, 
 is now about to make known His " terrible acts." 
 Psalm cxlv. 11— ^18. In fact, the angel before us 
 is like Noah in relation to the Antediluvians — 
 " a preacher oi righteousness ;^^ and like Jonah 
 in his commission to the Ninevites, advertising the 
 * See oil Cli. xi. 13, 
 
S98 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 6 13. 
 
 wrath that is impending — rather than a preacher 
 of the unsearchable riches of Christ. 
 
 For the hour of his judgment is come,] That is, 
 the crisis for the outpouring of the vials of wrath, 
 followed, as they will be, by the personal appear- 
 ance of the Lord himself, to execute judgment 
 and justice in the earth ; such crisis is now at hand; 
 and a proclamation to this effect may well be 
 employed to intimidate, and, per adventure, to 
 reclaim the wicked, while stimulating the faithful 
 to continued allegiance. 
 
 A?id worship him that made heaven, and earth, 
 and the sea, and the fountains of waters.] 'J his 
 clearly implies, as already observed, that mankind 
 at the period in question will be more or less 
 given to idolatry ; and similar allusions abound in 
 the Psalms. For example, in Psalm xcvii., which 
 obviously celebrates the establishment of the 
 Lord's kingdom on the earth, we read : — " Con- 
 founded be all they that serve graven images, that 
 boast themselves of idols : worship him, all ye 
 gods." ver. 7. Again, in Psalm xcvi. we have 
 another variation of the same theme : — " all the 
 gods of the nations are idols : but the Lord made 
 the heavens" ver. 5. And here, in the vindication 
 of Jehovah's title to homage, from His having 
 created the heavens, the parallelism with the 
 passage before us in the Apocalypse is striking. 
 
 But why, it may be asked, is it inaintained with 
 
CII. xiv. 6 13.] INTERPRETED. 299 
 
 such detail that God also made " the earth, and 
 the sea, and the fountains of waters ? " The 
 answer is at once apparent, when we see that 
 upon these several departments of nature, and in 
 the same order, the vial plagues successively take 
 effect. See ch. xvi. 2 — 4, Such being the precise 
 inflictions impending, the angel's proclamation 
 naturally appeals to them, in connection with his 
 assertion of Jehovah's claims to worship, as con- 
 trasted with the idolatry then prevalent. 
 
 The import of the angel's proclamation having \ 
 been thus considered, it must be almost needless 
 to remark that it does not constitute the theme 
 for the faithful Evangelist now to adopt. But at 
 the crisis in question, when Israel are about to 
 resume their place on the earth, and when human 
 society shall have burst, as it were, from all its 
 moorings, such theme will be truly seasonable ; 
 and the declaration that " verily there is a God 
 that judgeth the earth," will be welcome to every 
 ear that is attuned to the harmony of the promised 
 kingdom. 
 
 Nor is the preaching of the Apostle Paul in 
 Acts xvii., where he addresses the idolatrous 
 Athenians in terms similar to those before us, 
 inconsistent with this, but rather the reverse. Let 
 us consult the passage : — " Then Paul stood in the 
 midst of liars' hill, and said. Ye men of Athens, 
 I perceive that in aU things ye are too superstitious. 
 
300 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 6 13. 
 
 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, 
 I found an altar with this inscription, to the 
 UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly 
 worship, him declare I unto you. God that made 
 the world, and all things therein, seeing that he is 
 Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples 
 made with hands ; Neither is worshipped with 
 men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing 
 he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things. 
 
 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of 
 
 God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is 
 like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art 
 and man's device. And the times of this ignorance 
 God winked at ; but now commandeth all men 
 everywhere to repent : 33ecause he hath appointed 
 a day, in the which he will judge the world in 
 righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; 
 whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in 
 that he hath raised him from the dead." Actsxvii. 
 22—31. 
 
 Now, for the understanding of this language of 
 the Apostle, be it observed that his ministry, at 
 this time, indeed as it is recorded all through the 
 Acts, except in the way of an under-current after- 
 wards to flow forth openly, was consentient with 
 that of the twelve Apostles ^as such, which con- 
 templated the promised kingdom of Messiah, as 
 about to extend itself even then throughout the 
 earth, from Jerusalem as its centre. Thus it was 
 
CH. xiv. 6 13.] INTERPRETED. oOl 
 
 " the word of the kingdom," in its bearing upon the 
 heathen, rather than the exceeding riches of 
 God's grace, (which constitute the Gospel of our 
 dispensation,) that Paul published on Mars' Hill ;* 
 the same therefore, in import, as we have seen, 
 with the everlasting Gospel of the Apocalyptic 
 angel; but not the standard of the Church's 
 testimony now. 
 
 It may be added, that the diversity between 
 Paul's teaching, yea, conduct, in the Acts, and 
 his teaching in bis Ej)istles, is a subject which 
 needs more delicate discrimination than has hitherto 
 been bestowed on it by God's children. Just as 
 in the construction of harmonies of the Gospels, 
 wherein the variety of narration — albeit, exhibiting, 
 in reality, the wisdom of the Holy Ghost — has 
 been treated as an inconvenience to be gotten 
 rid of; so it has been in regard to the twofold 
 character in question of St. Paul's ministry, man's 
 effort has been to amalgamate, where God would 
 have us to distinguish. 
 
 Ver. 8. And there foUoived another angel, 
 saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great 
 city.] This messenger, of course, we cannot 
 doubt, belongs to the same order of beings as 
 his predecessors. See ver. 6, and ch. viii. 13. 
 To him, it appears, is confided another announce- 
 ment, and we may presume he publishes it in 
 
 » See also Acts xiv. 13 — 17. 
 
302 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 6 — 13. 
 
 the same way. The subject is the downfal of 
 Babylon, and it is twice affirmed probably to 
 signify, as in the case of the doubling of Pharaoh's 
 dream, that " the thing is established by God, 
 and God will shortly bring it to pass." Gen.xli.32. 
 As yet, this proud monument of man's ambition, 
 antitype of Babel of old, will not have been 
 overthrown. But in conformity with the word of 
 prophecy, the righteous catastrophe now draweth 
 nigh ; and intimation hereof — whatever effect it 
 will have upon the world at large — will, doubtless, 
 sustain the faith and patience of God's witnessing 
 people, (see ver. 12,) and to this end, probably, 
 it is here given. 
 
 The principle having been already urged in 
 preceding parts of this work, that Babylon, in 
 the Scriptures, means Babylon, as literally as 
 Jerusalem means Jerusalem,* it is only needful 
 to add here, that, besides the distinct prophecy 
 of the rebuilding of such great city contained in 
 Zechariah's vision of the ephah,t as well as its 
 recognition in the Apocalypse, our Lord seems 
 to allude to it in his parable of the leaven, " hid 
 in three measures of meal ;":J: for these three 
 measures (/rara) contain exactly the quantity of one 
 ephah; and the mention of "« womanj'^ as hiding 
 
 * See Vol. I., pp. 125, 161, 364. 
 
 + Zech. V. 5— 11. See Vol. L, p. 162. 
 
 + Matt. xiii. 33. 
 
CH. xiv. 6 — 13.] INTERPRETED. 303 
 
 them, remarkably corresponds with the sunilar per- 
 sonification of Babylon in the Apocalypse, and the 
 circumstantials of the ephah vision, in Zechariah.* 
 
 If it occur to the reader as strange that the 
 downfal of Babylon, (the literal city,) from 
 its zenith of splendour and magnificence, should 
 be celebrated by the Apostle John in this 
 book, when, in his day, if not ruined, it had, 
 at least, sunk into obscurity and decay; it is to 
 be remembered that the like method of the Spirit 
 obtains in the prophecy of Isaiah, and concerning 
 the same event. For, at the time when he was 
 inspired to describe Babylon as fallen from its ^'^ 
 pinnacle of grandeur, it had not risen, nor did it 
 rise, for upwards of a century after, into any *^ 
 
 importance in the earth. See Isaiah xiii. 19. AOJJ-^^'^ * 
 
 If, then, only in a prediction of its destruction, 
 the original grandeur of this city was inclusively 
 rehearsed by Isaiah, and when that grandeur lay 
 altogether in embryo, why should we be stumbled 
 at the implication of its revived grandeur given 
 at the period of its decline when John also foretels 
 the same final catastrophe. 
 
 And, surely, there is nothing incredible in the 
 particular event, when, irrespective of the word, 
 " thus saith the Lord^^ which, of itself, ought to 
 command our faith, we contemplate the character 
 of the last days as distinguished by the putting 
 * See Zech. v. 
 
304 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 6—13. 
 
 forth of diabolical energy, in conneclion with the 
 marvellous progress of human enterprise and 
 science in our own times. The rapid trans- 
 formation, which we ourselves witness, of places 
 once insignificantiinto imposing seats of commerce, 
 may suggest to us what an enthusiastic community, 
 inspired by some new impulse, will then be able to 
 achieve in regard to Babylon. 
 
 Because she made all nations drinh of the wine 
 of the vjrath of her fornication^ Such is the 
 infamy that will attach to Babylon, and which will 
 at length, bring down the Divine judgment upon 
 her. From her, as a centre, will have spread, 
 amongst mankind, a moral pestilence, so that 
 under some flimsy guise of natural liberty, the 
 sexes every where will be initiated into an 
 unbridled indulgence of their sensual passions.* 
 
 Perhaps, the best help to our conception of this 
 subject, is the case of the neighbouring capital — 
 Paris, whence, in her revolutionary paroxysms 
 from time to time, have been propagated throughout 
 Europe — and that, under cover of a cosmopolitan 
 patriotism, principles of utter anarchy. It would 
 appear also, that in this respect, the influence 
 of this corrupt city will operate like wine with 
 an inebriating eflect, while its being further 
 called the wine of the wrath of her fornication, 
 miplies the terrible anger of God with which the 
 
 * See Vol. I., pp. 159— ICa. 
 
CH. xiv. 6 13.] INTERPRETED. 305 
 
 participation of it will be surely attended. See 
 Jer. li. 7. 
 
 Ver. 9. And the third angel followed them.] 
 The succession of this agent is in relation to the 
 two preceding, already referred to. See ver. 6, 
 and chap. viii. 13. 
 
 Ver. 9, 10. Saying with a loud voice, If any 
 man loorship the heast and his image, and receive 
 his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same 
 shall drinh of the wine of the wrath of God, which 
 is poured out ivithout mixture into the cup of his 
 indignatio?i.] We have already contemplated, in 
 chap, xiii., the scene of Antichrist's worship ; his 
 representation by an image ; and a mark, which 
 will be received by his votaries. We now see, 
 either that a solemn warning shall have been 
 given from heaven against any participation in 
 this idolatry! (if we date this vision so far back) 
 or, which is the more probable view — that, at 
 length, like the sentence of a criminal preparatory 
 to his execution, the Divine denunciation of the 
 fearful wrath awaiting the apostates, now issues 
 forth against them. And, surely, it may well 
 make the ears of all that hear it tingle. 
 
 Answering to Babylon's cup — " the wine of the 
 wrath of her fornication^"* — of which, doubtless, 
 in connection with the worship of the Beast, the 
 guilty parties shall have drunk an intoxicating 
 draught, their retributive portion will henceforth 
 
 VOL. II. — 14. p 
 
o06 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 6—13. 
 
 be to drink of " the wine of the wrath of God." 
 Elsewhere, this reserved outpouring of the Divine 
 indignation is spoken of " as full of mixture." 
 Psalm Ixxv. 8. But here, it is observable, that 
 the description is " without mixture." Of this 
 apparent contradiction, however, a comparison of 
 the original here, with the Septuagint version 
 of the Old Testament, affords an easy solution. 
 For, therein, the expressions employed are sub- 
 stantially the same. In the text immediately 
 
 before us, they are 6ivov...TOv KeKepaa/jLerov aKpurov — 
 
 wine, that which is mixed, without mixture. In 
 
 Psalm Ixxv. 8, we have divov ciKparov irXijpes Kepaa- 
 
 fjaros — wine unmixed, full of mixture. And the 
 paradox of both phrases is at once removed by 
 the consideration, that the corresponding clauses, 
 " without mixture," and " unmixed," refer to 
 the wine being undiluted ; whilst the remaining 
 clauses, " mixed," and "full of mixture" convey 
 the additional idea of the wine being drugged, 
 i. e. rendered more stimulating by the infusion of 
 extra ingredients ; and in these statements there 
 is nothing inconsistent. The discrepancy is only 
 in our English translation, which, with the view 
 of avoiding the paradox, by confining itself to one 
 descriptive term, has unfortunately not selected 
 that which is parallel in both texts. 
 
 A7id he shall he tormented loith fire and brimstone^ 
 By this means, we know, Sodom and Gomorrah 
 
CH. xiv. 6^-13.] INTERPRETED. 307 
 
 perished of old. Gen.xix. 24. Fire and brimstone 
 also are included in that terrible outpouring of 
 the Divine anger of which we read in Psalm xi. : — 
 " Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and 
 brimstone, and an horrible tempest : this shall 
 be the portion of their cup." (ver. d) See also 
 Ezek. xxxviii. 22. 
 
 In the presence of the holy angels and in the 
 presence of the Lamh.'] " When the Son of man 
 shall come in his glory," our Lord adds, that " all 
 the holy angels" shall be with him. Matt. xxv. 31. 
 To this time, accordingly, we may consider that 
 the passage before us refers. 
 
 Ver. 11. And the smoke of their torment 
 ascendeth up for ever and ever.] ^lus the 
 description here is accumulative. Every expres- 
 sion that can minister to the conception of penal 
 suffering is combined by the Spirit, to exhibit 
 what those who are in league with the Antichrist 
 may expect to encounter at the hands of a holy 
 God. Nor is the eternity of their torment to be 
 overlooked. However the fiery flood into which 
 they shall be cast may operate upon their natural 
 bodies, and so produce ordinary death, yet is there 
 another body reserved for them, when raised for 
 final judgment, (and this we may consider as 
 specially referred .to,) wherein the sentence shall 
 be ever executing, and never exhausted. Certainly 
 there is no form of expression by which eternal 
 p2 
 
308 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 6 13. 
 
 suffering could be described more unequivocally ; 
 " for ever and ever" — literally, ages of ages — 
 being the same pbrase by which is represented the 
 duration of God himself. See chap. x. 6. Proud 
 man may arraign this doctrine at the bar of his 
 fallen reason, and declare it to be impossible ; and 
 even some Christians may affirm it to be incon- 
 sistent with the idea of abounding grace in Christ ; 
 but it is one of the correlatives of the infinite 
 work of redemption. And what unfathomable 
 depths are here — God manifest in the flesh, and 
 dying on the cross ! Who could have conceived 
 such an expenditure of Divine love, or its mode 
 of accomplishment ! And, yet, this marvel has 
 been realized. What forbids it, then, that eternal 
 suffering should be the portion of those who reject 
 this great mystery ? At all events, ^' thus saith the 
 Lord^^ and let this command the faith of all who 
 tremble at His word. Besides the direct testimony 
 of this and other like passages, let us remember 
 the emphatic statement of our blessed Lord, in 
 reference to Judas : — '^ Woe unto that man by 
 whom the Son of man is bestrayed ! it had been 
 good for that man if he had not been born." 
 Matt. xxvi. 24.) Surely, if there ever be escape 
 from the pit of perdition, existence will have 
 proved a positive blessing. But, herein, our Lord 
 rules the contrary : in Judas's case, (and surely it 
 is applicable to all the wicked,) non-existence 
 b(ing, comparatively, an enviable portion. 
 
CH. xiv. 6 — 13.] INTERPRETED. 309 
 
 And they have no rest day nor night, loho worship 
 the heast and his image, and lohosoever receiveth the 
 mark of his name.] Thus, by both positive and 
 negative description, the suiFerings of the wicked 
 are set forth. Perhaps, in succumbing to the 
 pretensions of the Antichrist, and identifying 
 themselves with his cause, they will have consulted 
 for carnal ease and enjoyment ; and hence, the 
 recorded experience of their far different portion, 
 even unintermitting torment, may be designed as 
 a sort of righteous retort, 
 
 Ver. 12, Here is the patie?ice of the saints.] 
 This notice of the trying exercise of God's faithful 
 witnesses has occurred before. Chap.xiii. 10. Their 
 lot being cast in such a season of tribulation, when 
 the wicked shall be in the ascendant, they will 
 have to endure " a great fight of afflictions." But 
 thus we learn that, for their consolation and 
 support, the Divine recognition shall rest upon 
 them. The Lord will know the way that they 
 take, and they shall be made sensible of it. 
 
 Hei^e are they that keep the commandments of 
 God, and the faith of Jesus.] Thus the " saints " 
 of the preceding clause are described. For though 
 these characteristics belong to the people of God 
 in all ages, yet they emphatically distinguish the 
 witnesses against Antichrist in the latter day, in 
 reference to whom the same terms have been 
 employed in chap. xii. 17. A slight difference, 
 
310 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 6 — 13. 
 
 indeed, is observable, in that there it is the 
 possession of " the testimony of Jesus," — the 
 expression for the prophecies of this book, indeed, 
 prophecy in general* — which is noticed. Here it is 
 the keeping " \he faith of Jesus." But the latter 
 proposition implies the former, only supplementing 
 the idea by suggesting, that the testimony of Jesus, 
 especially his word, " I come quickly," will be 
 responded to by the faith of this remnant — an ex- 
 ception as they will prove to the case of mankind at 
 large. See Lukexviii. 8. Perhaps it is also intended 
 that Jesus is the great prototype of their faith ; that 
 as the Apostle Paul exhorts, they will run their race, 
 " looking unto Him the author," or more correctly, 
 " the leader and the finisher of the faith ^^ i. e. of 
 the life of faith ; that they will take Him as their 
 bright and animating example, ^^ who for the joy 
 that was set before him, endured the cross, despising 
 the shame ;" and so they will persevere in their 
 faithful career, as He did, unto the end. It may 
 be to this same truth — the rehearsal, as it were, 
 of our Lord's faith personally — that the Apostle 
 alludes in his Epistle to the Galatians, where he 
 says : — " The life which I now live in the flesh, 
 / live by the faith of the Son of God:' Gal. ii. 20. 
 
 * Rev. xix. 10. 
 
 + Heb. xii. 2. Tlie above rendering of this text, it is submitted, 
 is required by the original, as well as by the coherence of the con- 
 text; the subject of the apostle, both before and after he introduces 
 it, being the example of ouv blessed Lord, 
 
CH. xiv. 6 13.) INTERPRETED. 311 
 
 Ver. 13. And I heard a voice from heave7i.] 
 Doubtless, the voice of the Lord Jesus, which had v , 
 fallen upon the Apostle's ears, in the opening 
 visions of this book. Chap. i. 10, 12 ; iv. 1. 
 
 Saying unto me, JVrife.] Such was the general 
 direction given in regard to the matter of the 
 whole book, in chap. i. 19. It is now repeated 
 in special connexion with the utterance which 
 here follows, and signifies the Lord's care to have 
 the. same recorded for the comfort of His people. 
 
 Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, 
 from henceforth.l As we have already seen, at 
 the time here contemplated, the faithful will be 
 exposed to dreadful suffering and temptation. 
 But death — the worst the enemy can inflict — 
 will be but a dismissal of his victims to rest, and 
 the interval shall be short till their glorious 
 resurrection. Hence, accordingly, this note of 
 congratulation from heaven, upon the case of all 
 who die in the Lord, from henceforth. Their 
 sufferings are at an end — nor shall they have to 
 wait long for their reward. But constituting, as 
 they do, the remaining complement of martyred 
 ones represented in the vision of the souls under 
 the altar, (chap. vi. 9 — 11,) the accomplishment 
 of their death will exhaust the ^^ little while" of 
 their brethren's suspense, and so usher in the 
 resurrection of the whole company, as beheld in 
 chap. XX. 4. 
 
ol2 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 6 13. 
 
 Of course, from this oracular announcement, 
 departing members of the church of God, in 
 every age, have derived most cheering con- 
 solation ; and at the prospect of death, it ministers 
 the same to every believer now. But it is 
 obvious, from the context, that the design here 
 is to encourage — especially from a certain time, 
 (henceforth} — those who shall " die in the Lord," 
 in the sense of dying for him ; thus, indeed, we 
 find the original preposition sometimes taken.* 
 The following clauses especially confirm this view. 
 
 Yea, saith the Spirit.l Thus, the previous voice 
 of Christ from heaven is echoed by the Spirit; 
 just as the personal addresses of our Lord to the 
 Seven Churches are accompanied by the notice : — 
 ^^ He that hath an ear let him hear what the 
 Spirit saith unto the churches." 
 
 That they may rest from their labours.] Here 
 is explicitly annexed to the pronounced blessed- 
 ness of those who die in the Lord, one happy 
 consequence in which it consists — immediate 
 repose to the emancipated spirit. It is not a 
 topic much dwelt on in the New Testament; and, 
 doubtless, because to the Church, as the body of 
 Christ and members one of another, the isolated 
 enjoyment of the individual is not the suitable 
 object of hope, but rather the coming of the Lord 
 Jesus — the blessed event in which every believer, 
 
 * See Matt. vi. 7 ; 1 Peter Iy. 14, 
 
CH. xiv. 6 — 13.] INTERPRETED. 313 
 
 whether among the quick or dead, is alike in- 
 terested with the Lord himself. Still, whenever 
 the happiness of the disembodied spirit is occa- 
 sionally alluded to, it is in terms of most blissful 
 import. " To be absent from the body," says 
 the Apostle, is to be ^' present with the Lord." 
 2 Cor. V. 8. And so we find the dying Stephen, 
 as he looked up steadfastly into heaven, declaring 
 that he beheld Jesus standing at the right hand 
 of God ; not sitting, be it observed, the usual 
 expression for our Lord's Priestly rest, but 
 standing — the posture of one in readiness to re- 
 ceive his welcome guest. Acts vii. k)%. In the 
 Old Testament, the allusions to this subject — 
 though not indeed with the glowing emotion 
 which seems to have been reserved for the ex- 
 perience of the Spirit of adoption under this dis- 
 pensation, are yet more numerous. And, perhaps, 
 one passage in the Prophet Isaiah points to the 
 very crisis upon which we are now remarking : — 
 " The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it 
 to heart : and merciful men (men of kindness, or 
 godliness) are taken away, none considering that 
 the righteous is taken away from the evil to come." 
 Isaiah Ivii. 1. These words certainly accord with 
 a period of martyrdom — one aspect of the context 
 before us ; and, in the next verse, we have a 
 similar transition to the happy issue with the 
 sufferers : — " He shall enter into peace, they 
 p3 
 
314 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. xiv. 6 13. 
 
 shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his 
 uprightness." ver. 2. 
 
 To the same effect, the decease of the Prophet 
 Daniel is spoken to, in the last verse of his 
 prophecy : — " But go thou thy way, till the end 
 be ; for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at 
 the end of the days." Dan. xii. 13. The reference 
 herein to Daniel's ultimate hope is in further 
 keeping with another blessed consequence of the 
 death of the martyred ones before us ; for the 
 Spirit proceeds : — 
 
 And their works do follow them.] Or follow 
 tctth them, as it is more forcibly in the original, 
 implying the reward of their works ; for no other 
 meaning can be supposed than a quickly succeeding 
 consummation of their bliss in resurrection glory. 
 In the case of many generations of saints, the 
 reward of their works, in resurrection, will not 
 have ensued till long after their spirits have 
 entered into rest. But here such fruition will be 
 speedy — resurrection triumphing over death almost 
 at once. This interpretation only, the reader will 
 observe, contributes the adequate meaning which 
 seems to be required by the emphatic note of 
 time, " henceforth^'' in the previous clause of 
 this verse. On any other ground than such 
 assigned nearness of the great consummation, one 
 cannot account for the special congratulation of 
 those whose death is the subject of the Spirit's 
 comment. 
 
CH. xiv. 14 20.] INTERPRETED. 315 
 
 CHAPTEll XIV. 
 
 SECTION THIRD. 
 Verses 14—20. 
 
 li And I looked, and beliold a white cloud, and upon the cloud 
 one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden 
 crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 
 
 lo And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud 
 voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap ; 
 for the time is come for thee to reap ; for the harvest of the earth 
 is ripe. 
 
 16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth : 
 and the earth was reaped. 
 
 17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, 
 he also having a sharp sickle. 
 
 18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power 
 over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp 
 sickle, saying. Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters 
 of the vine of the earth ; for her grapes are fully ripe. 
 
 19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered 
 the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the 
 wrath of God. 
 
 20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood 
 came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the 
 space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. 
 
 It has been already observed that from chap. xi. 
 19, to chap XV. 5, the visions of this book are 
 parenthetical, supplying information helpful to 
 the understanding, both of what preceded, and 
 what is yet to" follow in the order of events. The 
 reader must, therefore, distribute such information 
 
316 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. xiv. 14 — 20. 
 
 accordingly. That which is now immediately 
 before us is plainly anticipative, giving a general 
 idea of what will happen in that " hour of 
 judgment^'' fore-announced by the angel. Ver. 7. 
 
 Ver. 14. And I looked, and behold a lohite 
 cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the 
 Son of man.] Without doubt, it is the Lord Jesus 
 who is here represented ; for by the same words, 
 " like unto the Son of man/' — He is designated 
 in chap. i. 13. And both in the Old and New 
 Testaments He is described as coming to the earth 
 with the clouds of heaven. See Psalm xviii. 10 ; 
 Psalm civ. 3 ; Isaiah xix. 1 ; Luke xxi. 27. That 
 He will not have actually descended to the earth, 
 at this moment, is to be concluded, from the 
 precise position assigned to him, sittiiig upon the 
 cloud. But that there will be some manifestation 
 of Him, in the heavens, as though superintending 
 the transaction now about to ensue, cannot be 
 doubted. Perhaps, herein will consist " the sign 
 of the Son of man in heaven," of which our 
 Lord speaks, apparently, as a preliminary to his 
 accomplished advent, "in power and great glory." 
 Matt. xxiv. 30. 
 
 Having on his head a golden crown.] Such is 
 another of our Lord's insignia, to set forth His glory, 
 and so, in Psalm- xxi., of which he is certainly 
 the antitype, if not the direct subject, we read. — 
 " Thou settest a crown of pure gold on his 
 
CH. xiv. 14 — 20.] INTERPRETED. 317 
 
 head." ver. o. That head, once mocked \Yith 
 a crown of thorns, shall now appear in royal 
 majesty, crowned with giory and honour. 
 
 And 171 his hand a sharp sickle^ This emblem 
 of the harvest-man is manifestly connected with 
 the character of the work upon which our Lord 
 is now about to enter, that of reaping the earth, 
 or as it is said elsewhere, without metaphor — 
 judging the earth; for to him hath the Father 
 committed all judgment. John v. 22. 
 
 Ver. 15. And another angel came out of the 
 temple^ The temple here is, either that in heaven, 
 in which case, this angel would seem to be a 
 messenger from the Father to Christ, as the great 
 Executive of the Divine will ; or, it is the sanctuary 
 on earth, the station of observation, whence an 
 angel is appointed to signal the precise moment 
 for the reaping process to begin. Perhaps the 
 latter view ought most to be commended to us by 
 the consideration that, if it were "the temple in 
 heaven^^ which was intended, the specific words 
 would be added, as, in such case, we find them in 
 ver. 17, and not left to be supplied. 
 
 Crying ivith a loud voice to him that sat on the 
 cloud, Thrust in thy sickle and reap.] Such is the 
 word which initiates the harvest scene. 
 
 For the time is come for thee to reap.] This is 
 one general reason assigned for beginning the 
 work. The ^act hour (wV") appointed in the 
 
318 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 14 20. 
 
 Divine counsels has arrived, xlnd it is now 
 announced to ,J;he Lord Jesus — the ^^ordained 
 Executive of the Eather, unto whom alljiidgment 
 has been committed. John v. 22. 
 
 For the harvest of the earth is ripe.] Here is 
 stated another reason for the angelic signal, 
 although resolving itself into the foregoing. The 
 true Israel's oppression, and the arrogant iniquity 
 of Antichrist and his followers, have reached their 
 height. This allegation strikingly fits in with our 
 Lord's parable of the tares, as though implying 
 what is therein expressed, — the impatience of the 
 servants to precipitate operations in rooting up the 
 tares. That impatience was met by the word of 
 the householder : — " Nay, lest Avhile ye gather up 
 the tares, ye root up also the w^heat with them. 
 Let both grow together until the harvest." Now, 
 it appears, this appointed season has arrived, and 
 there is no need of longer delay. Hence, also, 
 apprehending the unity of subject between these 
 Scriptures, w^e may apply to the present scene the 
 information of the parable, that " the harvest is the 
 end of the loorld,^''* or rather age (atwi'os), that 
 very period which the disciples had in view when 
 they asked our Lord, " What shall be the sign 
 of thy coming, and of the end of the tcorld (age).?" 
 Mat. xxiv. o. And here, it is to be carefully 
 obsserved, in order to the determination of the 
 * Matthew xiii. 29, 39. 
 
CH. xiv. 14 20.] INTERPRETED. 319 
 
 period intended, that in both these passages it is 
 used relatively, not to the hope of the Church, 
 but to that of the Jewish nation ; for in neither 
 context is the Church brought into view at all. 
 Our Lord spoke not in reference to it, the time 
 not having come for the development of this 
 mystery ; * and it is plain the disciples were 
 altogether ignorant of such being reserved in the 
 purpose of God, and so could not have enquired 
 concerning it. Oversight of this, and bringing in 
 tke^Church where it has no place, seems to be that 
 which has creafedrTEie difficulties of Commentators 
 in the interpretation of these and other Scriptures 
 with which they are connected. The suggestion 
 now offered, it is trusted, will shew its usefulness 
 in the way of elucidation as we proceed. 
 
 Ver. 16. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in 
 his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.] 
 This is a concise account of the harvest operations. 
 But the details are supplied to us in the parable 
 just cited, wherein we learn several particulars : — 
 
 I. The condition presented by the harvest-field — 
 the world. 
 
 II. The reapers employed on the occasion. 
 
 III. Their order of procedure. 
 
 IV. The happy result to gladden the heart of 
 the great Husbandman. 
 
 * Ephesians iii. 9, 10. 
 
320 THE APOCALl'PSE [CH. xiv. 14 20. 
 
 Upon these particulars, a few remarks may be 
 useful. And — 
 
 I. As to the condition of the harvest- field. It is 
 found occupied by a mingled crop — wheat and 
 tares. The former being the children of the 
 kingdom — a denomination answering to those who 
 shall have received the good seed, " the word of 
 the kingdom;" the latter being the children of the 
 Wicked One, propagated by the great enemy, 
 Satan. In short, they are the followers of 
 Christ, and the followers of Antichrist. From the 
 appropriation elsewhere of the term " children of 
 the kingdom" to the Jewish people generally,* we 
 may presume that, under this head, such are the 
 parties contemplated here — at least, principally. 
 In their ranks, both within and without the 
 promised land, shall be found several remnants of 
 believing ones, holding fast, amidst all opposition, 
 the hope of their forefathers. But apostacy, also, 
 shall be rife amongst them, and many shall cleave 
 to him who will have *' come in his own name" — 
 the Beast, as we have seen, of chap, xiii., who shall 
 cause all his votaries to do him homage, and to 
 receive his characteristic mark. Thus, of the seed 
 of Abraham there will be children of the kingdom, 
 to be owned of the Lord when He comes ; and 
 children of the kingdom — unworthy of the name — 
 to be cast out. 
 
 * See Matthew viii. 12. 
 
CH. xiv. 14 — 20.] INTERPRETED. 321 
 
 No doubt the discrimination of the harvest-scene 
 will further affect the Gentile nations. But their 
 concern in it will be only subordinate, like that 
 of the camp-followers of an army in the subsequent 
 issue of victory or defeat ; and so it suffices to bring 
 before us the case of the covenant people — those 
 who are under a special responsibility before God. 
 
 II. The 7'eapers employed. They are the holy 
 angels. 'J'he Son of Man — he that sitteth on 
 the white cloud — shall send them forth as his 
 ministerial agents.* 
 
 III. Their order of procedure. They shall deal 
 first with the tares. " The son of man shall send 
 forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his 
 kingdom all things that offend, and them which do 
 iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: 
 there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Matt. 
 xiii. 41,42. To this agrees the kindred parable of 
 the net and the fishes, in regard to the refuse which 
 are cast away : " So shall it be," says our Lord 
 " at the end of the world (age,) the angels shall 
 come forth, and sever the wicked from among 
 thejust.^^ Matt. xiii. 49. To the same effect, the 
 Psalmist thus addresses the righteous : — " Before 
 your pots can feel the thorns" [i.e. the wicked, 
 crackling like thorns, to which they are elsewhere 
 compared, in regard to their carnal mirth)t " he 
 
 * See Matt. xiii. 41. 
 + Eccles. vii. 6, 
 
32^ THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 14 20. 
 
 shall take them away, as with a whirlwind, both 
 living, and in his wrath.'* Psalm Iviii. 9. After 
 this sudden manner, shall the tares be snatched 
 out of the holy land and city which they defile. 
 As the Psalmist says again : — " The Lord shall 
 swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall 
 devour them." Psalm xxi. 9. See also Mai. iv. 1, 2. 
 
 No doubt, sudden as will be this reverse to 
 the wicked, there will yet be a method in the 
 Divine procedure. Their destruction will not 
 be a momentary thing ; and so we read of the 
 tares being gathered in bundles before they are 
 burned. But that the event will be a complete 
 clearing of Jerusalem and its territory from the 
 presence of the wixjj^^il, -is^'plainly asserted in 
 the parable; nor is it less plainly implied in 
 the following language of the Prophet Isaiah: — 
 "It shall come to pass, that he that is left in 
 Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall 
 be called holy, even every one that is written 
 among the living in Jerusalem ; when the Lord 
 shall have washed away the filth of the daughters 
 of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of 
 Jerusalem from the midst thereof, by the spirit 
 of judgment, and by the spirit of burning." 
 Isaiah iv. 3—4. See vol. i. pp. 346, 349. 
 
 It need scarcely be added that with this recog- 
 nition of the harvest commencing with judgment 
 on the wicked, as an incidental featj^re, the inter- 
 
CH. xiv. 14 — 20.] INTERPRETED. 323 
 
 pretation which makes it point to the issue of 
 the present -XHiJirfik -dispensation, according to 
 which the saints are first translated to glory, 
 is utterly inadmissible. To apply to this case, 
 the order observed in the parable should be 
 reversed ; so that, instead of the tares being 
 gathered out from the wheat, we should read 
 of the wheat being gathered out from the tares. 
 
 IV. Lastly, we come to the happy result, in the 
 case of the wheat. It shall be gathered into the 
 barn, i. e. the righteous remnant, thus represented, 
 shall be collected, as to their true centre of rest, 
 to Jerusalem, " the city of the great King." 
 And, here, the precision of Scripture is to be 
 noticed. In the original, the term used to denote 
 the gathering of the tares, imports that they are 
 culled out ((TvWeyw.) Whilst in regard to this 
 gathering of the wheat, the word simply means, the 
 bringing together of the precious grain (oruvayw) — 
 the mustering of " the congregation of the 
 righteous" in which " sinners shall not stand." 
 Psalm i. 5. To this end, we read, " the Son of 
 man shall send His angels with a great sound of 
 a trumpet, and they shall gather together His 
 elect, (the spared Jewish people) from the four 
 winds, from one end of heaven to the other." 
 Matt. xxiv. 31. 
 
 " Then," according to the parable, " shall the 
 
S24: THE APOCALYPSE [cH. xiv. 14 20. 
 
 righteous sliine forth as the sun in the kingdom 
 of their Father." ver. 48. Nor must this simi- 
 litude be considered of too glorious a character 
 to comport with ^e earthly blessedness of the 
 Jews ; for in that typical song ortriuinplrtn--the'^ 
 Old Testament, chanted over Israel's destruction 
 of Jabin's hosts, we find it used in this very 
 connection : " So let all thine enemies perish 
 O Lord : but let them that love him be as the sun 
 when he goeth forth in his might." Judges v. 31. 
 
 Thus, the collateral information, furnished by 
 the Gospel, shews that the figure of harvest 
 includes the Divine dealings with the wicked as 
 well as with the righteous ; though no doubt the 
 reference principally intended is to the latter. 
 Nor would it be congruous, after the previous 
 mention of the 144,000 as^" first fruits," if the 
 burden of the harvest scene related not to the full 
 ingathering of the correlative body — the saved 
 nation. And this may be inferred from the 
 context immediately succeeding; of which the 
 burden is as emphatically, indeed exclusively, 
 that o£ judgment. 
 
 'J 'he English reader will perhaps think, that, as in 
 Joel iii. 13, 14, the whole double metaphor of harvest 
 and vintage is employed Judicially ; so it ought 
 to be here. But, in regard to the passage in Joel, 
 it is to be observed, that, in both the Septuagint 
 
CH. xiv. 14 — 20.] INTERPRETED. 325 
 
 and Syriac versions, the translation is not " the 
 harvest/' but ' the vintage is ripe.' And Bishop 
 Horsley, of known celebrity as a critic, argues 
 that as the original Hebrew term, notwithstanding 
 its etymology, is capable of this signification, so, 
 occurring as it does in Joel, without the specific 
 addition, which it has elsewhere when the 
 gathering of corn or wheat is intended, (see 
 Isaiah xvii. 5, 11,) such signification ought to be 
 preferred. Upon the point generally before us, 
 the learned Prelate adds : " It is true the burning 
 of the tares in our Saviour's parable (Matt, xiii.) 
 is a work of judgment, and of the time of harvest, 
 previous to the binding of the sheaves ; but it is 
 an accidental adjunct of the business, not the 
 harvest itself. I believe the harvest is never 
 primarily and in itself an image of vengeance."* 
 
 Of course, the reader will have perceived, that, 
 in this imagery, nothing is imported concerning a 
 judgment of the dead. Such will come in due 
 place ; but to introduce it here is only to com- 
 plicate those aspects of the subject which the 
 Spirit of God keeps distinct. 
 
 Ver. 17. And another angel came out of the 
 temple which is in heaven^ This angel's ap- 
 pearance is evidently to recall to the mind the 
 chief Personage of the vision — the Son of man. 
 He presides over both harvest and vintage ; but 
 
 * Horsley's Biblical Criticism, vol, ii., p. 194. Ed. 1844. Longman. 
 
326 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 14 — 20. 
 
 as he had already been presented in person, in 
 one connection, it suffices now, for the other, that, 
 he be represented by one of his ministering agents. 
 Therefore, also, as the Lord himself comes from 
 heaven, his agent issues from " the temple in 
 heaven." Upon the latter phrase, see chap. xi. 19. 
 
 He also having a sharp sickle.'] Though a 
 subordinate agent, yet, as representing the Lord 
 Jesus, this angel carries the same ensign, a sharp 
 sickle, suitable to the work of vintage, now about 
 to be engaged in. 
 
 Ver. 18. And another angel came out from the 
 altar, which had poiver over fire.] As this angel, 
 like his fellow, in ver. 15, in relation to the 
 harvest, gives the signal for the vintage to begin, 
 so, from the same earthly point of observation, 
 the temple, he issues forth ; only, from the appur- 
 tenance of the altar being specified, it maySe 
 designed that Ave should recognize in what ensues, 
 the invoked vengeance of the souls under the 
 altar in the fifth seal. Perhaps, indeed, we should 
 also see, in this angel, the Heavenlj^f unationary 
 of chap. viii. 3, who presides at the altar, exhibiting 
 the cries of the persecuted saints as reaching the 
 ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. And, as he is there 
 represented symbolizing the Divine answer, by 
 filling his censer with Jlre of the altar, which he 
 casts into the earth ; so, he is now described as 
 the angel " which had power over fire" — and this 
 
CH. xiv. 14 20.] INTERPRETED. 327 
 
 view is favored still more by the original, wliich 
 is literally, ^ tohich had authority over the fire. ^ 
 
 And cried vntli a loud voice to him that had the 
 sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, 
 and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth ; 
 for her grapes are fully ripe.] Thus, the signal 
 is given for beginning the operations of the vintage, 
 as before, for those of harvest ; and the same reason 
 is announced, the maturity of the fruit. 
 
 Ver. 19. A?td the angel thrust in his sickle into 
 the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and 
 cast it into the great loinepress of the xorath of God.] 
 As we have seen from other Scriptures, the image 
 of harvest which has preceded, involves the 
 judgment of Jewish apostates ; but it is only 
 incidentally. Hence it may be that, unequivocally 
 to convey this feature of the future, and especially 
 in its wider aspect, as aifecting the Antichristian 
 nations, the scene of the vintage is now employed, 
 the import of which is purely retributive. That 
 the subject of it will be the apostate Jews in the 
 first instance qannot be doubted. The responsibility 
 of having been God's vineyard — " His pleasant 
 plant^" (Isa. v. 7) will have-Jbelonged to them. 
 They were planted a " noble vine, wholly a right 
 seed," but now they will have become unto the 
 great Husbandman, " the degenerate plant of a 
 strange vine." Jer. ii.21. Accordingly, judgment 
 is denounced upon them ; and in keeping with its 
 
3^8 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. XIV. 14 20. 
 
 tremendous import, here depicted, Jerusalem, 
 like a disconsolate mother, is thus represented 
 bemoaning her condition : — " The Lord hath 
 trodden under foot all my mighty men in the 
 midst of me : he hath called an assembly against 
 me to crush my young men. The Lord hath 
 trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a 
 wine-press." Lam. i. 15. But these sufferings of 
 Jerusalem's corrupt children will not exempt her 
 persecuting enemies from a similar portion ; and 
 so she is brought forward exclaiming in this same 
 chapter : — " All mine enemies have heard of my 
 trouble : they are glad that thou hast done it: thou 
 wilt bring the day that thou hast called (pro- 
 claimed), and they shall be like unto me. Let all 
 their wickedness come before thee ; and do unto 
 them as thou hast done unto me for all my trans- 
 gressions : for my sighs are many, and my heart 
 is faint." Ver. 21, 22. Answering to this then, as 
 well as to Judah's punishment, is the import of the 
 vintage-scene before us. The Antichristian nations, 
 also, sKairl)e gathered as grapes into the wine-fat, 
 to be trodden by the Lord. The probability, 
 indeed, is, that they are specifically intended by 
 " the vine of the earth,^^ even as the Antichrist 
 is designated ^' the man of the earths* For, in 
 the song of Moses, we have parties thus described : 
 " Their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the 
 
 * Psalm X. 18. 
 
CH. Xiv. 14 20.] INTERPRETED. * 329 
 
 fields of Gomorrah ; their grapes are grapes of 
 gall, their clusters are bitter: their wine is the 
 poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps." 
 And these parties do not seem to be Israel, 
 but their " enemies.^' Such term is the nearest 
 antecedent to the description in question. See 
 Deut. xxxii. 31 — 33. When we remember, 
 also, that the universally corrupting influence of 
 Babylon is, in this very book, compared to wine, 
 — " the wine of the wrath of her fornication^'' — 
 a similitude not wanting in application to the 
 foregoing comparison of the wicked cities of the 
 plain, we ought to be prepared for the image 
 of the vintage assuming a Gentile aspect. 
 
 With this comprehensive view of the vintage 
 the other scriptures agree, in which such image 
 is employed. For example, in the Prophet Joel, 
 already referred to, where it is said, " the press 
 is full, the fats overflow," the verse immediately 
 preceding treats of the gathering of the heathen 
 for judgment, to the valley of Jehoshaphat ; and, 
 in the clause following, continuing the allusion, 
 we read -: — " For their wickedness is great. 
 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision :" 
 or of threshing, as it is in the margin. Chap. iii. 
 12 — 14. Again, with a similar reference both 
 before and after to vengeance on the Antichristian 
 nations, the Lord thus commissions Jeremiah : — 
 " Therefore prophesy thou against them all these 
 
 VOL. 11. — 15. Q 
 
330 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 14 20. 
 
 words, and say unto them. The Lord shall roar 
 from on high, and utter his voice from his holy- 
 habitation ; he shall mightily roar upon his 
 habitation ; he shall give a shout, as they that 
 tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of 
 the earth." Jer. xxv. 30. 
 
 In the Prophet Isaiah, also, where the avenging 
 march of the Lord from Edom is the subject of 
 contemplation, and the comparison employed is 
 that he is like unto one " that treadeth in the 
 wine-fat," we find him immediately appropriating 
 the image: — " I have trodden the winepress alone ; 
 and of the people there was none with mc : for 
 I will tread them in mine anger, and trample 
 them in my fury; and their blood shall be 
 sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all 
 my raiment." And, hereupon, the cause of his 
 prosecuting this terrible career is added : — " For 
 the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the 
 year of my redeemed is come." Isaiah Ixiii. 3, 4. 
 Now, of course, as the " redeemed" here consist 
 of Israel, the parties upon whom the vengeance 
 falls are their enemies — the oppressing Gentiles. 
 Again, the same event is rehearsed in chap. xix. 
 of this book ; indeed, the vision is the counterpart 
 of that presented in Isaiah : the Lord Jesus, in 
 his triumphant progress against his enemies, being 
 the subject of it: — " Out of his mouth goeth a 
 sharp sword, that with it he should smite the 
 nations : and he shall rule them with a rod of 
 
CH. xiv. 14 — 20.] INTERPRETED. 331 
 
 iron." Here, again, the nations are introduced 
 as undergoing the Divine judgment. But the 
 sentence is imperfect till we read on : — " And he 
 treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath 
 of Almighty God." E-ev. xix. 15. 
 
 Thus, we see the wide import of the vintage- 
 scene before us, and that it involves in turn the 
 oppressing Gentile as well as the corruptT^w. 
 
 Ver , 20. And the winepress was trodden loithout 
 the city.'] Lepers, and other ^artie§, to whom un- 
 cleanness attached, were, of old, put without the 
 camp. For the same reason, also, it would appear, 
 the bodies of the sin-offerings were carried thither 
 and burned.* And this dishonor, as the Apostle 
 writes, the Lord Jesus — the real victim, underwent, 
 when He '^ suffered without the gate of the city." 
 Heb. xiii. 11, 12. Accordingly, on this occasion 
 of the slaughter of the wicked — to provide against 
 Jerusalem being defiled by their blood — the wine- 
 press, the seat of destruction, is anointed without 
 the city. And so Calvary, whereon the Son of 
 God was crucified, shall yet witness an effusion of 
 human blood — how dreadful and unparalleled 
 the next clause teaches : 
 
 And hlood came out of the winepress even 
 unto the horse-hr idles, by the space of a thousand 
 and six hundred furlongs.] That the earth must 
 litemlly. flov/ with blood, at this awful crisis, may 
 
 * Lev. xvi. 27. 
 
 q2 
 
So2 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xiv. 14—20. 
 
 be easily conceived from the extensive carnage 
 which will ensue, and which is elsewhere enlarged 
 on. Thus, immediately following the allusion to 
 the vintage, in chap. xix. of this book, we have 
 another vision illustrating the details : — " And 
 I saw an angel standing in the sun ; and he cried 
 with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly 
 in the midst of heaven. Come, and gather yourselves 
 together unto the supper of the great God ; that 
 ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of 
 captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the 
 flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, 
 and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, 
 both small and great." ver. 17, 18. See also 
 Ezek. xxxix. 17 — 20, and verses 9 — 11, whence 
 it appears that of this awful field of battle it will 
 take Israel seven months to bury the dead, and 
 seven years to burn the spoil of the weapons 
 of war. 
 
 Again, in the Prophet Isaiah, we read: — "Come 
 near, ye nations, to hear ; and hearken, ye people ; 
 let the earth hear, and all that is therein : the 
 world, and all things that come forth of it. For 
 the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, 
 and his fury upon all their armies : he hath utterly 
 destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the 
 slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and 
 their stink shall come up out of their carcases, 
 and the mountains shall be melted with their 
 
CH. xiv. 14 20.] INTERPRETED. 333 
 
 bloo^^ For my sword shall be batliecl in 
 
 heaven : behold, it shall come down upon 
 Idumea and upon the people of my curse, to 
 
 judgment : for the Lord hath a sacrifice in 
 
 Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of 
 
 Idumea : and their land shall be soaked 
 
 with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. 
 For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the 
 year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion." 
 Isaiah xxxiv. 1—8. In this last description, the 
 s-cene of carnage, is the land of Idumea, or Edom, 
 from the capital of which (Bozrah) our Lord is 
 seen victoriously advancing in chap. Ixiii. This 
 mountainous region, therefore, will, no doubt, 
 compose part of the wine-press here pourtrayed. 
 The valley of Jehoshaphat, from what we have 
 already seen, must also be included. And, as we 
 read elsewhere, (in connexion with what is called, 
 '' the battle of that great day of God Almighty,"; 
 of the kings of the earth, and of the whole world 
 being gathered " together into a place called in 
 the Hebrew tongue .Amageddon,"* — e. e. the 
 place of Megiddo,t— perhaps we are thus furnished 
 with the several localities, whence the space of 
 the 1600 furlongs, or two hundred miles— the 
 estimated extent of the land of Palestine— will be 
 inundated with the blood of the slain. As to its 
 coming " even unto the horse-bridles," we are to 
 * Hev. xvi. U— 16. + See also Hosea i. 11. 
 
834 THE APOCxiLYPSE [cH. xiv. 14 20. 
 
 remember that in the East, from the caparison 
 of the war-horse/^ were wont to be suspended 
 numerous ornamental trappings, of which the 
 bridle was not without its share. Such, accordingly, 
 in the scene before us, may be conceived to reach 
 so low as to become ensanguined by the tread of 
 the horses over the field of carnage; and this 
 would be a literal verification of the Spirit's 
 language. Perhaps, however, it is simply employed 
 as the idiom to denote a scene of extensive 
 slaughter (though this, undoubtedly, will surpass 
 all others) ; for thus the same terms substantially 
 occur in ancient writers. Bishop Newton quotes 
 the Jerusalem Talmud, as recording that, at the 
 destruction of the city of Bitter, where so many 
 Jews perished, " the horses waded in hlood up to 
 the nostrils^ And " Silius Italicus," he adds, 
 speaking of Annibars descent into Italy, " useth a 
 like expression, of the bridles flowing with much 
 Hood:'* 
 
 •^ Newton ou the Prophecies, vol. iii, pp. 267, 268. 
 
CH. XV. 1 4.] INTERPRETED. 335 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 SECTION FIRST. 
 Verses 1 — i. 
 
 1 And I saw another sign in lieaven, great and marvellous, seven 
 angels liaving the seven last plagues ; for in them is filled up the 
 wrath of God. 
 
 2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire : and 
 them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, 
 and over his mai'k, and over the number of his name, stand on the 
 sea of glass, having the harps of God. 
 
 3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the 
 song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, 
 Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of 
 saints. 
 
 4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name ? for 
 thou only art holy : for all nations shall come and worship before 
 thee; for thy judgments are made manifest. 
 
 As already observed, the contents of the three 
 preceding chapters are of a parenthetic character. 
 After the sounding of the seventh Trumpet, 
 importing the exhaustion, at length, of the Divine 
 chastisement upon the Jews, and the coming 
 retribution upon the Gentiles, their oppressors,* 
 the Spirit had proceeded to render out in detail 
 the dealings of God with the latter. To this end 
 the temple of God was represented as opened 
 in heaven, (chap, xi, 19,) whence, as we see, in 
 verse 6, of .this chapter, the avenging angels, 
 
 * Compare chap, x. 7 with chap. xi. la — 18. 
 
oS6 THE APOCALYPSE, [CH. XV. 1 4. 
 
 with tlieir seven vials of wrath, issue forth. But, 
 just at that point, a digression ensued, to fill up 
 explicitly what had before been only implied ; 
 and to hint summarily at the events ready to 
 succeed. Such matter being thus disposed of, the 
 original rehearsal is now resumed ; and at verse 5, 
 of this chapter, the continuation of the subject is 
 obvious. It is effected, however, by a sort of 
 overlapping of the parts, which is discernible 
 in lliese foregoing verses. For whereas, at the 
 sounding of the seventh trumpet is contemplated 
 " the time of God's wrath" upon the nations, and 
 the attainment of certain saints to resurrection 
 blessedness ; here we have, answering thereto, 
 the executive of that wrath — the seven ^al angels ; 
 and just as they issue forth, a vision evidently 
 of risen saints standing before God. Indeed, the 
 song which they sing is exactly correspondent 
 in import with that which, in chap. xi. 17, 18, 
 celebrates the establishment of Messiah's kingdom. 
 "VYe cannot doubt, therefore, but that the thread 
 of narration, which was then suddenly dropped, 
 we here meet with again — the two chapters 
 running into each other ; and, at this stage, it 
 will be profitable to the reader to peruse them 
 consecutively. 
 
 Ver. 1. A7id I saw another sign in heaven^ 
 great and marvellous^ Two signs seen in heaven 
 had been spoken of before ; first, the sun-clad 
 
CH. XV. 1—4.] INTERPRETED. 337 
 
 woman, (chap. xii. 1) — symbol we considered of 
 the Jewish nation, dignified as she is in the 
 Divine purpose ; secondly, the great red dragon, 
 standing before the woman with malignant intent,* 
 representing Satan, and his designs against that 
 people so honoured of God. In relation to these 
 foregoing visions, and, as it were, conducting the 
 main line of rehearsal of the future with a guiding 
 uniformity, " another sig7i^^ is here exhibited to 
 the Apostle, and its great and marvellous import 
 is explained by what follows. 
 
 Seven angels hamng the seven last plagues ; for 
 in them is Jllled up the wrath of God.^ Here are 
 the prime ministers of judgment, who, by suc- 
 cessive strokes, will vindicate the chosen people 
 of God against their Dragon foe, and his earthly 
 satellites. 'J 'hey are not the seven angels seen in 
 chap. viii. 3, to whom are committed the trumpet 
 woes ; for, in their designation, the article, indi- 
 cative of this, is not found. They are, then, se ven 
 other heavenly agents, who wait upon the further 
 execution of the Divine behests. With their 
 number, as in the case of the trumpet angels, 
 corresponds the series of plagues which they 
 inflict — seven,B.nwxnhex expressive of completeness. 
 
 * Ver. 3. The word here, and iu ver. J, the reader will observe, 
 though translated " wonder," is the same iu the origiual with tliat 
 which is employed iti this chapter, " sign.'' Indeed, the margin so 
 renders it. 
 
 q3 
 
338 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. XV. 1 4. 
 
 See Lev. xxvi. 21. The plagues are also the 
 seven last plagues, because, as it is added, " in 
 them is filled up the wrath of God y" i. e. herein 
 the Divine anger finds full vent against the 
 Antichristian adversaries of Him and His people, 
 and thus — as was announced would take place 
 under the sounding of the seventh trumpet — 
 *' the mystery of God^^ becomes ^^ finished y" the 
 hiding of His face from Israel ceases ; and the 
 proud Gentiles are brought into complete sub- 
 jectioji; ' ^ 
 
 Yer. 3. And I saw as it were a sea of glass.] 
 This seems evidently a recurrence to the imagery 
 of chap, iv., where the throne of God is seen 
 in the heavens, surrounded by the twenty-four 
 elders, (representing the glorified saints of past 
 dispensations,) and the four living creatures in 
 the midst (representing the Church, the body 
 of Christ). " Before the throne," says the Apostle, 
 *^ there was a sea of glass like unto crystal." 
 (chap. iv. 6.) It did not then appear to be 
 occupied by parties standing on it. The time for 
 this, we now se^e7 had not arrived. E-es.urrection 
 glory indeed was represented as already realized 
 by "others — those just cited. But such happy 
 consummation to them only, initiates the events of 
 the day of the Lord, whose rehearsal John is 
 caught up to behold; and as yet the further 
 complement of glorified ones, whose station is 
 
CH. XV. 1 — 4.] INTERPRETED. 339 
 
 appointed on tlie sea of glass before the throne, 
 have not run their martyr's career. During the 
 progress of the Revelation, as at the opening of 
 the fifth seal, some of them are seen in the place 
 of the dead ; but their number is to be augmented 
 by the martyrdom of others ; and, not until 
 then, is vengeance to come upon their enemies. 
 Meanwhile, however, the position in glory, 
 prepared and reserved for them, awaits their 
 translation to it. And now, at length, the 
 seventh trumpet having sounded, they are seen 
 to occupy it. 
 
 In that the sea of glass is "mingled with fire," 
 we should perhaps recognize the fierce character 
 of the persecution through which they shall have 
 passed. Or, probably, this combination may be 
 designed to suggest that here is the heavenly 
 antitype of "the molten" (or brazen) "sea" in 
 Solomon's temple, (1 Kings vii. 23,) wherein the 
 Aaronic Priests were wont to wash, as a preparation 
 for their sacred service. The object of the scene 
 before us being to set forth the higher order of 
 Priests, constituted of these risen saints, this ensign 
 of their sacerdotal functions is not wanting. 
 
 And them that had gotten the victory over the 
 beast, and over his image, (and over his mark,*) 
 and over the number of his name, stand upo7i the 
 sea of glass.] .Such is the description of those who 
 * This clause ought to be omitted, as an iutevpulatiou, see page :HJj. 
 
340 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. XV. 1 4. 
 
 stand on the sea of glass. As already anticipated, 
 they are risen saints. This we gather from their 
 character of victors. Those of the Seven Churches 
 who overcome, (it is the same word in the original,) 
 and the prophets and saints of chap. xi. 18, all 
 of whom, it is submitted, are contemplated in 
 chap. xii. 11, will constitute the distinguished 
 band. Indeed — besides the inference already 
 derived from the assigned position on the sea of 
 glass — it is the identification of the scene as 
 including these parties which shows it to be a 
 xesurrection one ;^r the portion of the former, 
 let us~~feinember, (the victors of the Seven 
 Churches,) is manifestly ^surrection glory, in- 
 cluding the^tion of " the moTTitng star," in the 
 smiting of the nations, which smiting is now about 
 to ensue under the seven vials ; and as to the latter, 
 (the prophets and saints of chap. xi. 18,) for their 
 resurrection, (signified to take place under the 
 seventh trumpet, comprising the outpouring of 
 the vials,) we can find no other place, as we look 
 throughout the series, than in this preliminary 
 vision. Whilst herein, the introduction of such 
 is very apposite, and well answers, in point 
 of speedy event, to the congratulatory note of 
 chap.xiv. 13. No doubt, both parties are identical 
 with those whose resurrection is expressly men- 
 tioned a little farther on, in chap. xx. 4. To the 
 Beast, (the Antichrist,) it will have been given to 
 
CH. XV. 1 — 4.] INTERPRETED. 34:1 
 
 make war with, and to " overcome^'' tliem, in their 
 mortal nature, and so they shall be beheaded. 
 But still in that they shall not have " worshipped 
 him, nor his image, nor have received his mark" — 
 their loyalty to their Divine Master being unshaken 
 alike by the blandishments and terrors of the 
 enemy — they shall get the real victory or overcome 
 (it is the same term in the original) in fortitude of 
 spirit ;* and at last they shall completely triumph 
 over him or out of his hand (the preposition 
 being ec not cttI) in their rising from the dead. 
 I This event formally rehearsed in chap. xx. is here 
 ; implied, which constitutes the difference between 
 the two visions. 
 
 Having the harps of Gocl.^ In a former vision 
 we have had "harps" mentioned as part of the 
 equipment for heavenly worship. See on chap. v. 8. 
 Here the expression is ^^ harps of God,^^ which 
 seems to convey the idea of the bliss which 
 animates this company being clivme. In fact, they 
 have now entered into " the joy of their Lord," 
 as participants in the accomplishment of His 
 counsels; and how fully they appreciate the glorious 
 distinction is indicated by their hymn of praise 
 which follows. 
 
 Ver. 3. Aiid they sing the song of Moses 
 the servant of God.] From the character of 
 victors which' belongs to the parties singing, we 
 * Eev. xii. 1 1. ^^-^ 
 
342 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. XV. 1 4. 
 
 may determine that of the two Scriptures thus 
 entitled, Deut. xxxii., and Ex. xv., the latter is 
 that here referred to, as it breathes throughout 
 the corresponding tone of triumph. Its intro- 
 duction here is also instructive, as shewing that 
 Israel's memorable deliverance at the Red Sea 
 was typical of that final one which yet awaits 
 them, when another mighty Pharoah and his 
 hosts, having subserved the Divine purpose, shall 
 be consigned to a similar destruction ; and the 
 analogy is still more remarkable, as in this case 
 also, there will have been an outpouring of 
 successive ■ plagues upon the enemy, ushering in 
 the great catastrophe. The inspired strain of the 
 song would, of itself, suggest that there was 
 this reference to the future. For, like the 
 tenor of all the prophecies, it celebrates Israel's 
 settlement in their land, as coincident with the 
 establishment of Messiah's everlasting kingdom. 
 Thus in fact the song closes : — '' Thou shalt bring 
 them (Israel) in, and plant them in the mountain 
 of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, 
 which thou hast made for thee to dwell in ; in 
 the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have 
 established. The Lord shall reign for ever and 
 ever." Ex. xv. 17, 18. 
 
 May it not be, moreover, to signify that this 
 consummation was reserved for achievement by 
 the Lord himself, that Moses is here entitled 
 
en. XV. 1 4.] INTERPRETED. 34-3 
 
 " the servant of the Lordf^ For, it is remarkable 
 that this precise title was first affixed to his name 
 in the recital of his death by the Holy Ghost, 
 before Israel entered the promised land, when 
 Joshua the type of Jesus as the man of avar 
 (the personage of the song,) was appointed to 
 be his successor, who accordingly installed the 
 people into their temporary occupation of the 
 land.* 
 
 The further association of this song with the 
 Lord Jesus, as "the song of the Lamb" (for, 
 I submit, it is the same song, which is thus 
 denoininated, only epitomized) is confirmatory of 
 the foregoing suggestion ; for our Lord's title, 
 THE Lamb, is significant, not merely of atoning 
 virtue, but of redemptive might ; and the latter, 
 (though at the same' time - implying the former) 
 is evidently the idea here, so that it answers to 
 the "man of war," in Exodus xv. 
 
 Saying, Great and marvellous are thy works.] 
 Thus begins the song just dercribed — an epitome 
 of Moses' song ; and we have only to compare 
 the two in order to see the unity of theme which 
 pervades them. For example, in this opening 
 clause of the one before us, is commended to 
 our notice the imposing character of the Divine 
 judgments impending under, the seven vials; the 
 very aspect of which in the angels' hands, had 
 * Compare Deu. xxxiv. 0, with Deu. iii. 20 — 28 
 
344 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. XV. 1 4. 
 
 been described in corresponding words, (ver. 1.) 
 " a sign great and marvellous y" and the same 
 is one prominent feature in the song of Moses; 
 so that ^^ doing wonders^^ is therein recited as 
 the climax of Jehovah's attributes with which 
 none can c^ompare. Ex. xv. 11. 
 
 Lord GodJUmighty^ This three-fold title we 
 have met with twice already, in the recorded 
 adoration of the heavenly worshippers. And now 
 from meeting it again, in the present connexion, 
 perhaps we should gather further knowledge of 
 its import. It seems theni to be here ascribed 
 to God, as at length consummating, by all-subduing 
 power, his revealed purposes. Nor is this view 
 sustained only by its use in this book of the 
 Apocalypse, the rehearsal, as it is, of Divine 
 actings rather than speakings. A further and 
 independent proof is supplied by God himself 
 on the occasion of his assuring Moses, which 
 he does twice over^ that, " with a strong hand,^ 
 he was about to redeem Israel out of Egypt. For 
 then, after citing the two names, ^^God Almighty," 
 by which He had been before manifested, he 
 emphatically supplemfin-fes them by the addition 
 " Lord :" — " Then the Lord said unto Moses, 
 Now, shalt thou see what I will do to Pharoah : 
 for with a strong hand shall he let them go, 
 and with a strong hand shall he drive them 
 out of his land. And God spake unto Moses, and 
 
CH. XV. 1 — 4.] INTERPRETED. 345 
 
 said unto him, T am the Lord i And I appeared 
 unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by 
 the name of God Ahnighty, but by my name 
 Jehovah was I not known to them." Ex. vi. 1 — 3. 
 Here we have severally, the very names before 
 us; and the discrimination of their respective 
 meanings is sufficiently implied, so that their 
 combination in this, and the other triumphant 
 songs of the Apocalypse, contemplates, we cannot 
 doubt, the actual putting forth of Divine poioer 
 to accomplish its behests. 
 
 Perhaps, in regard to this last reference in 
 Exodus, the reader may be perplexed at the 
 allegation that to the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, 
 and Jacob, God was not known as the Lord, 
 or Jehovah ; whereas, in Gen. xv. 6, it is said 
 of Abraham, that "he believed in the Lord" 
 (Jehovah.) And again, in. ver. 7, that God said 
 to him; "I am the Lord" (Jehovah). This 
 perplexity is at once removed by the consideration 
 that it is a ^ensihly experimental knowledge of 
 Him under this name, which God denies to have 
 been possessed by the Patriarchs. The demon- 
 stration of his self existence y and the dependence 
 on Him, (and therefore utter impotence without 
 Him) of all creaturehood, which the name 
 Jehovah iin23orts, had not been given till the 
 Exodus, or deliverance of Israel commenced. 
 Accordingly, in consonance with this, we find 
 
346 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. XV. 1 4. 
 
 it declared by God himself, " The Egyptians 
 shall know that I am Jehovah, when I stretch 
 forth my hand upon EgyptJ^^ Ex. vii. 5. Indeed 
 there is one text in the Psalms which thus 
 elucidates the passage in question, (Ex. vi. 3.) 
 the moment it is put into juxta-position : " The 
 Lord (Jjehovah) is known hy the judgment 
 which he executeth^ Psalm ix. 16, After this 
 manner, then, (though recognized indeed by 
 faith,) was He not known to the Patriarchs. 
 
 Just and true are thy ways.] The ways of 
 God are those dispensations of his, whereby he 
 Qomes into manifestation ; ^' his footsteps," as it 
 were — the term by which the Psalmist varies 
 the expression, (Psalm lxx,vii. 19.) and sometimes, 
 as he adds, they are ^'not known." And again, 
 he exclaims, " O Lord, how great are thy works ! 
 and thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man 
 knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand 
 this." Psalm xcii. 5, 6. Perhaps indeed a dis- 
 tinction is herein intended between the " works''^ 
 of God, and His " thoughts ^"^ the latter having a 
 closer affinity to what are called His xoays^ as 
 it is said elsewhere : "He made known His ways 
 unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel." 
 Psalm ciii. 7. But no doubt the ways of God, here 
 spoken of, {i. e., in the text of the Apocalypse,) 
 comprise his whole procedure ; and as Israel's 
 relation to the nations is the matter now at 
 
CH. XV. 1 4.] INTERPRETED. 347 
 
 issue, probably, the Divine methods for the 
 adjustment of this are especially contemplated 
 under the characteristics added — " just and 
 true" 
 
 This seems to accord with the general subject, 
 as we have seen, of Moses' song, in Exodus xv. ; 
 whilst it forcibly calls to mind, the celebration, 
 in his other song, of the Divine perfections of 
 Israel's God : " He is the Rock, his work is 
 perfect; for all his ways are judgment: a God of 
 truth and without iniquity, just and right is He. 
 Deut. xxxii. 4. Thus also it may be designed to 
 intimate that at length the time has come for 
 the idealization by Israel, of their long expected 
 blessing^^^-the performance by God, as Zacharias 
 expresses it, of the mercy promised to their 
 fathers, and the remembering his holy covenant, 
 "the oath which he swear unto their father 
 Abraham," (Luke i. 72, 73 ; Psalm xcviii. 1—3 ; 
 Psalm cv. 6 — 10,), a consummation, we know, 
 which — as the nations of the earth throng to the 
 Holy City to render their appointed worship — 
 will inspire them with a true appreciation of 
 the Divine character. The whole strain of the 
 100th Psalm is Israel's invocation to them, to 
 praise God upon this very ground. For, let the 
 reader observe the variation of person, as the 
 Psalm proceeds: — "Make a joyful noise unto 
 the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with 
 
348 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. XV. 1 4. 
 
 gladness : come before his presence with singing. 
 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that 
 hath made us, and not we ourselves ; we are his 
 people, and the sheep of his pasture." ver. 3. 
 Again — all lands being still addressed — " Enter 
 into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his 
 courts with praise : be thankful unto him and 
 bless his name. For the Lord is good, his mercy 
 is everlasting ; and his truth endureth to all 
 generations." ver. 4, 5. It is only necessary to 
 add that the mercy and truth here celebrated 
 obviously appertain to Israel, according to the 
 language of the Prophet : — " Thou wilt perform 
 the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, 
 which thou hast sworn unto our father's from the 
 days of old." Micah vii. 20. 
 
 Thou King of saints (nations)^ This alteration 
 of the text, as adopted by almost all Editors, not 
 only makes it harmonize with another Scripture, 
 ( Jer. X. 7,) but also preserves the coherence of the 
 subject — the vindication of the Divine purpose 
 touching Israel. 
 
 In like manner, a similar title of God, elsewhere, 
 importing his paramount authority over mankind 
 at large, is associated with his complete redemption 
 of the covenant people. Thus, in Psalm xlvii., 
 after the recognition of God, as " a great King 
 over all the earth," Israel are taught to add: 
 " He shall subdue the people under us, and the 
 
CH. XV. 1 4.] INTERPRETED. 849 
 
 nations under our feet. He shall choose our 
 inheritance for us^ the excellency of Jacob whom 
 he loved." Ver. 2 — i. It is probable also that 
 our Lord is here confessed as '' King of nations, ^^ 
 to oppugn the pretensions of the Antichrist, 
 now aFout to be deposed from his impious 
 ascendency. 
 
 At all events, if, with some copies, the title 
 '^ King of saints^^ be admitted, it is clear that it 
 relates not to the saints of this dispensation; 
 for to them appertains the distinction of being 
 "joint-heirs" with the King, not his subjects, which 
 latter relation is confined to the Jews and the 
 nations. Nor is it ever said that Christ shall reign 
 over the saints, but expressly that they " shall 
 reign ivith him,''' (2 Tim. ii. 12); and his headship 
 over all things is, not so much inclusive of them, 
 as U7ito them — as we read : " Head over all things 
 to the Church which is his body, the fulness of 
 him that filleth all in all." Eph. i. 22, 23. 
 
 Ver. 4. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and 
 glorify thy name f\ Such is the contemplation 
 of the effect of God's righteous judgments as 
 just cited; and it appears to be a response to 
 the proclamation of the everlasting Gospel, in 
 chap. xiv. 7. Between this and Moses' song, also, 
 the parallelism is observable : — " The people shall 
 hear, and be afraid : sorrow shall take hold . 
 on the inhabitants of Palestina. Then the dukes 
 
350 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. XV. 1 4. 
 
 of Edom shall be amazed ; the mighty men 
 of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them ; 
 all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away." 
 Exodus XV. 14, 15. 
 
 We see further from Psalm xxii., (the utterance 
 of our blessed Lord on the cross,) that this was 
 among the aspects of the joy set before him, 
 which refreshed his sinking spirit in the hour of 
 agony ; for it is there recited : " All the ends of 
 the world shall remember, and turn unto . the 
 
 Lord For the kingdom is the Lord's : and 
 
 he is the governor among the nations." Ver. 27, 2S. 
 
 Thus, too, the inquiry after him by the Greeks, 
 in the days of his flesh (earnest of this happy 
 future) was an occasion to him of comfort, so 
 that he could exclaim, in answer : " The hour 
 is come, that the Son of Man should be glorified. 
 Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn 
 of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth 
 alone : but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." 
 John xii. 2S, 24. 
 
 And, as with the Lord himself, this harvest of 
 an ingathered world was associated, we perceive, 
 with his humiliation unto death; so, doubtless, 
 it will be, with the heavenly choir who celebrate 
 this festive scene. The worthiness of the Lamb 
 that was slain will mingle with their thoughts 
 as they sing, not less than in the actual strains 
 of their glorified brethren represented in former 
 visions. 
 
CH. XV. 1 4.] INTERrRETED. 351 
 
 Fo7' thou onhj art holy^ According to the 
 most approved editions of the original, the word 
 which is eInpTbyed in this clause to denote the 
 Divine character (Jlaios^ conveys not more the 
 idea of holiness, than of graciousnesSf benignity. 
 In the Septuagint, it is used as answerable to a 
 Hebrew term which signifies mercy ; for example, 
 " the sure mercies of David." Isa. Iv. 3. Accord- 
 ingly, the ascription of this attribute to God in 
 the song before us, occurring, as it does, by way 
 of reason for the universal glorying of His 
 name, just anticipated, may especially relate to 
 the mercy and truth of which Israel are now 
 about to be manifestly the subjects ; and so the 
 unity of theme in this introduction to the out- 
 pouring of wrath upon their enemies, becomes 
 further commended to us. See Isaiah lix. 16 — 18. 
 
 For all nations shall come and toorship before 
 thee.] 'J 'his prolonged note of happy anticipation 
 concerning the future, indeed, part of the fore- 
 going clause also, is contained in Psalm Ixxxvi., 
 where, after a like adoring contemplation of the 
 Divine works, setting the true Jehovah above 
 all comparison, the Psalmist adds : " All nations 
 whom thou hast made shall come and worship 
 before thee, O Lord ; and shall glorify thy 
 name." ver. 9. The same precise prospect is 
 rehearsed by oul* blessed Lord in Psalm xxii., and 
 in almost identical words : " All the kindreds of 
 
S52 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. XV. 1 4. 
 
 the nations shall worship before thee." (ver. 27) 
 This will be one feature of the Millennial dis- 
 pensation, when the restored temple in Jerusalem 
 shall be God's " house of prayer for all people," 
 who, according to another prophecy, " shall even 
 go up from year to year to worship the King, 
 the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the feast of 
 tabernacles.." See Isaiah Ivi. 7, and Zech. xiv. 16. 
 
 For thy judgments are made manifest^ The 
 word here translated "judgments" is often em- 
 ployed to denote the pleadings of a party in a 
 court of justice to vindicate his rightful cause. 
 By the fearful judgments then which follow under 
 the outpouring of the vials, will God plead His 
 cause and that of Israel, against the Antichristian 
 nations. And herein do the heavenly choir before 
 us descry one grand means which will conduce 
 to the blessed sjpectacle just contemplated— ^the 
 prevalence of true religion throughout the world. 
 Not indeed that mere infliclions of suffering can 
 convert mankind, but that amidst such demon- 
 strations, that " verily there is a God that judges 
 the earth," universal attention will be arrested 
 to the accompanying overtures, of his grace. 
 
 That this humbling process to break down the 
 proud spirit of independence'lTh the human heart, 
 and which is yet to put forth its desperate energy, 
 is a necessary preliminary in the Divine counsels 
 to the regeneration of the world, is insisted on in 
 
CH. XV. 5 — 8.] INTERPRETED. 353 
 
 Scripture. Thus, in the prophet Isaiah, we read : 
 " Let favor be shewed to the wdcked, yet will he 
 not learn righteousness." Here is affirmed the 
 failure of any dispensation of grace like the present 
 to reduce mankind to allegiance to God. Nor will 
 the heavy chastisement, before their eyes, of the 
 covenant people Israel, have this effect. Hence, 
 the prophet exclaims : " Lord, when thy hand is 
 lifted up, they will not see." But the true pre- 
 scription is at hand: — "When thy judgments are 
 in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn 
 lighteousness." Isaiah xxvi. 9 — 11. And what 
 have Ave, in the vision before us, but a celebration 
 of this happy issue on the eve of attainment, the 
 antecedent judgments being ready to descend — 
 yea, even now, to the eye of faith, running their 
 course — "for thy judgments are made manifest." 
 
 V 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 SECTION SECOND. 
 
 Verses 5 — 8. 
 
 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the 
 tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened : 
 
 G And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the 
 seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their 
 breasts girded with golden girdles. 
 
 VOL. II. — 16. R 
 
354 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. XV. 5 8. 
 
 7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven 
 golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. 
 
 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from tlie glory of Godj 
 and from his i)ower; and no man was able to enter into the temple, 
 till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. 
 
 Ver. 5. And after that I looked, and behold, the 
 temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven 
 was opened^ This vision, as incidentally noticed 
 already, J[inks opr, ii^^the way of direct recital, with 
 the close of chap. xi. (see on chap. xi. 19), where, 
 immediately after the sounding of the seventh 
 trumpet, we similarly read that " the temple of 
 God was opened in heaven." The variation intro- 
 duced into the phraseology now — a combination 
 not met with elsewhere in Scripture, — confirms 
 what has been already suggested, that the temple 
 alluded to, in both cases, is the heavenly abode of 
 the Divine presence — the Archetype, according to 
 which every successive symbol of God's dwelling ^ 
 C>7 on earth was constructed, thcTestigaony first, then > 
 the Tabernacle, lastly the Temple. See Ex. xvi. 
 34; xxxiii. 7; "xxv. 40; 1 Chron. xxviii. 12 — 19. 
 Ver. 6. And the seven angels came out of the 
 temple, having the seven plagues.'] These heavenly 
 functionaries are only denominated in vefr. 1, 
 " seven angels." Now, however, to define them 
 as parties already mentioned, the article is 
 employed — "the seven angels." See on ver. 1. 
 Their issuing out of the temple — fresh, as it were, 
 
Ctt. XV. 5 8.] H^TERPRETED. 355 
 
 from the Divine presence — imports their being 
 commissioned of God to engage in the work now 
 before them. 
 
 Clothed in pure and white line^t.] This is the 
 emblem of spotless purity, such as God requires 
 of His servants. Thus, w^ien the High Priest of 
 old entered into the Holiest of all — the presence- 
 chamber, as it were, of Jehovah — he was required 
 to be clad in his white linen garments. Lev. xvi.4. 
 And so in some of the .angelic manifestations in 
 human form recorded in the Old Testament, the 
 same white apparel is noticed. See Ezek. ix. 2 ; 
 Dan. X. 5. 
 
 And having their breasts girded with golden 
 girdles.] Perhaps this farther investment of their 
 persons is designed to signify "not .only their 
 readiness for service, but also the sacred dignity 
 of their office. For thus, in order to the recog- 
 nition, by Israel, of the honor put upon their High 
 Priest, — whereas, on his entrance into the Holiest 
 of all, he was only clad in his white linen 
 garments, — upon his presenting himself before the 
 congregation, he wore, by Divine command, those 
 that were "for glory and beauty," whereof the 
 curious girdle of the ephod (of gold) was a dis- 
 tinguishing ornament. See Lev. xvi. 23, 24. Our 
 Lord himself also appears invested with the same 
 in the opening vision of this book. 
 
 Ver. 7. And one of the four beasts (^living 
 r2 
 
356 THE APOCALYrSE [CH. XV. 5 8. 
 
 creatures) gave unto the seven angels seven golden 
 vials full of the torath of God] As tlie living 
 creatures represent the glorified saints of this 
 dispensation — " the body of Christ" — the circum- 
 sferrtrg of one of them serving out to the appointed 
 ministers of judgment^ Severally, the full-charged 
 emblems of their office, plainly indicateslKat even 
 in this preliminary stage of the process, before the 
 Lord personally appears, they — " the saints, shall 
 judge the world." See 1 Cor. vi. 2. The action 
 here is analogous to the -Recessive cry of all the 
 living creatui'es, " come aiidr~see," which ushers 
 in the judgments of the seals. Ch. vi. 
 
 Answering to " the wrath of God," said to be 
 poured out into the cup of his indignation, (chap, 
 xiv. 10) thq <^iaXr/, or vial, is now introduced, each 
 angel having one. And, as we have seen/ (ch. v. 8) 
 " golden vials " (the same word) employed as 
 receptacles of the prayers of the saints ; doubtless, 
 their use on this occasion, as ^^ full of the wrath of 
 God," should suggest that in their outpouring, 
 now about to ensue, such prayers have availed as 
 at least one moving cause. See vol. i. p. 296. 
 
 Who livetli for ever and ever.] This description 
 of God is by Avay of amplification of His wrath 
 just spoken of. The greatest of men are but 
 transient creatures, and, therefore, God says to 
 Israel, " Who art thou, that thou shouldest be 
 afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of 
 
Ctt. XV. 5 — S.] IXTEllPRETED. 357 
 
 mail which shall be made as grass ?" Isaiah li. 12. 
 But, as to Himself, he now repeats that " he 
 liveth for ever and ever ;" (chap. i. 6,) as though 
 to awaken the seasonable response :—" Who 
 knoweth the power of thine anger? even ac- 
 cording to thy fear, so is thy wrath." Ps. xc. 11. 
 
 Ver. 8. And the temple was filled with smoke 
 from the glory of God, and from Ms power.] 
 At the giving of the Law, we read that " Mount 
 Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the 
 Lord descended upon it in fire : and the smoke 
 thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace." 
 Exodus xix. 18. This was amongst the demon- 
 strations of the holy, sin-avenging character of 
 God, and accordingly the effect upon all the 
 people was that they " trembled." Exodus xix. 16. 
 So terrible was the sight that even Moses said : — 
 " I exceedingly^ fear and quake." Heb. xii. 21. 
 
 As the preliminary to judgment, also, " the 
 glory of the Lord" was wont to be manifested 
 like devouring fire, (see Exodus xxiv. 17,) as on 
 the occasion of Israel's murmuring against Moses 
 and Aaron. Thus it is written, that " when the 
 congregation was gathered against Moses and 
 against Aaron, that they looked towards the 
 tabernacle of the congregation; and, behold, 
 the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord 
 appeared." Numbers^ xvi. 42. And the sequel 
 immediately follows, ere Moses could interpose, 
 
 r\ 
 
358 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. XV. 5 8. 
 
 of wrath going out from the Lord — " the 
 plague was begun among the people." Ver. 47. 
 Similarly^hen, in the vision before us, the temple, 
 whence the yial angels issue, wears an adverse 
 aspect. Go da as^it"were, looks out from it, as of 
 old from the pillar of cloud when he " troubled 
 the hosts of the Egyptians." Exodus xiv. 24. 
 See also Isaiah vi., where the house (i.e. the temple) 
 is " filled with smoke," as an accompaniment of 
 the commission of judgment confided to the 
 Prophet. 
 
 A7id no man was able to enter into the temple, 
 till the seven plagues of the seven angels were 
 fulfilled.] On various occasions, in the history 
 of Israel, we read of Moses ^^ entering into the 
 tabernacle,"— coming into the Divine presence 
 to intercede for the guilty people,— and God was 
 entreated of him, so as to turn from his anger. 
 Exodus xxxii. 31— 33; xxxiii. 9— 12, &c. When, 
 therefore, as in the passage before us, all entrance 
 is debarred, for the time that the vial plagues are 
 being poured out, we should perhaps gather that 
 thus intimation is given of the inflexible resolve 
 of God to inflict these coming plagues. No place 
 shall be found, as it were, for jnoving an arrest of 
 judgment. Elsewhere, to convey a^sirnilar idea 
 in regard to Israel's chastisement, the interposition 
 of Moses and Samuel is supposed only to be 
 declared abortive :t— " Though Moses and Samuel 
 
CH. XV. 1 4.] INTERPRETED. 359 
 
 Stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward 
 this people: cast them out of my sight." Jer.xv. 1. 
 See also Ezek. xiv. 14. And, again, the Divine 
 %exorableness is signified by God's covering 
 himself with a cloud (just like the foregoing 
 vision of smoke filling the temple) : — '' Thou hast 
 covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer 
 should not pass through." Lam. iii. 44. A solemn 
 admonition 4his to all who have ears to hear, not 
 to abuse the Divine patience ! For when God 
 once arises to judgment, neither will he be 
 entreated, nor can he be resisted. And by this 
 very consideration are the confederate nations, 
 with their rulers — the parties upon whom the 
 yial plagues shall come — urged to submit to 
 Go^3r?^"Thou shalt break them with a rod of 
 iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a 
 potter's vessel." Here is their impending ruin. 
 But immediately ensues the exhortation : — " Be 
 wise now, therefore, O ye kings ; be instructed, 
 ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, 
 and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest 
 he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when 
 his wrath is kindled but a little." Psalm ii. 9 — 12. 
 Christian Reader ! shall we not, in this our day, 
 realize and proclaim, both with our lives and lips, 
 the closing note that follows — " Blessed are all 
 they that put their trust in him ? " 
 
360 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. Xvi. 1 — 21. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Verses 1—21. 
 
 1 Aud I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven 
 angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God 
 upon the earth. 
 
 2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth ; 
 and there fell a noisome and grevious sore upon the men which had 
 the mark of the beast, and Kjwn them which worshipped his image. 
 
 3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea ; and 
 it became as the blood of a dead man : and every living soul died 
 in the sea. 
 
 4 And the third angel poured out his \ial upon the rivers and 
 fountains of waters ; and they became blood. 
 
 5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, 
 O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast 
 judged thus. 
 
 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou 
 liast given them blood to drink ; for they are worthy. 
 
 7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God 
 Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. 
 
 8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun ; and 
 power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 
 
 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the 
 name of God, wliich hath power over these plagues : and they 
 repented not to give him glory. 
 
 JO And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the 
 beast ; and his kingdom was full of darkness ; aud they gnawed 
 their tongues for pain, 
 
 11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and 
 their sores, aud repented not of their deeds. 
 
 12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river 
 Euphrates ; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the 
 kings of the east mig])t be prepared. 
 
CH. Xvi. 1 — 21.] INTERPRETED. 361 
 
 13 Aud I saw three uuclean spirits like frogs come out of the 
 moutli of the dragon, aud out of the mouth of of the beast, aud out 
 of the mouth of the false prophet. 
 
 14 For they are the sprits of devils, working miracles, which go 
 forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather 
 them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 
 
 15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and 
 keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 
 
 10 And he gathered them together into a place called in the 
 Hebrew tongue Armageddon. 
 
 17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and 
 there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the 
 throne, saying, It is done. 
 
 18 And there wei-e voices, and thunders, and lightnings ; and 
 there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were 
 upon the earth, so miglity an earthquake, and so great. 
 
 19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities 
 of the nations fell : and great Babylon came in remembrance before 
 God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his 
 Nvi'ath. 
 
 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not 
 found. 
 
 21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every 
 stone about the weight of a talent: aud men blasphemed God 
 because of the plague of the hail ; for the plague thereof was 
 exceeding great. 
 
 In entering upon the consideration of this third 
 series of terrible judgments, it may be well to 
 refer the reader to what has been already ad- 
 vanced, in regard to its relation to the two 
 preceding series — the seals and the trumpets.* 
 Of these several series of visions, the thread of 
 recital, in the Apocalypse, consists ; the other 
 
 * Vol. i. IT). 307—814. 
 R 3 
 
THE APOCALYPSE [CH. Xvi. 1 21, 
 
 visions being introduced as ancillary thereto, 
 supplying details for the filling up"of the subject. 
 In the seals, we have the Qomprehensive aspect; 
 of the terrible day of the Lord, upon the corrupt 
 Jews, and the apostate Gentiles,^ collectively. 
 In the trumpets, we have the special^ j££ect of 
 that day upon the Jews — the mrties with whom 
 Divine justice will deal^r^^.* And now, in the 
 vials, we have the aspect of that day upon the 
 Gentiles, their oppressoi~s. 
 
 Ver. 1. Afid I heard a great voice out of the 
 temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, 
 and pour out the vials of the torath of God upon 
 the earth.] This voice, initiating the outpouring 
 of the vials, would seem to be the same with that 
 which is heard at the close when all have been 
 poured forth, and which is denominated — " a great 
 voice out of the ^emple of heg^ven, from the 
 throne." Ver 17. And the^ last clause of this 
 fuller description, "from the throne^^ leads to the 
 identification of the voice with that of chap. i. 10, 
 and chap. iv. 1, which is unquestionably the voice 
 of the Lord Jesus. He, therefore, it is, who now 
 commands the seven angels to their respective 
 places, that the execution of the appointed 
 judgments may, at once, begin. And as the issue 
 is the redemption of Israel, probably we should 
 * Eom. ii. 9, 10. 
 
CH. xvi. 1 21.] INTERPRETED. 363 
 
 / further determine that this is the " voice of the 
 Lord that rendereth recompense to his enemies," 
 of which the Prophet Isaiah speaks. For, imme- 
 diately thereon, as we see in the context, the 
 joyful event is introduced of Zion travailing and 
 bringing forth her children. See Isaiah Ixvi. 6 — 8. 
 
 As it will have been the land of Palestine Cj>V[/^o 
 that the trumpet visitations will aifect, for the n- j 
 chastisements of the Jews, we should rather y-- 
 ijonclude that the scene of the vialjplagues will bei^^t-^^^^ 
 the earth as occupied by their Antichristian 
 adversaries. But, we must remember, this will 
 still ^nvolve Palestine, for, as yet, it is in the 
 possession of the Antichrist, who may use it as 
 the head quarters for his armies. If this appear 
 inconsistent with the alleged exhaustion of Jewish 
 suffering, under the trumpets, at least, at the 
 hands of God, let it be borne in mind that, as in 
 the case of Israel and the Egyptians of old, the 
 Lord will know how to discriminate between his 
 enemies and his friends. And, perhaps, in 
 Psalm xci., and other Psalms of like import, 
 wherein, amidst the most desolating judgments, is 
 celebrated the preservation of a faithful people, 
 the reference is to such discrimination, not merely 
 between Jew and Jew, as under the trumpets, 
 but between Jew and Gentile, as here, under 
 the vials. 
 
 Ver 2. And the first loent, and poured out Ms 
 
364 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. Xvi. 1 21. 
 
 vial upon the earth.'] Whatever region of the 
 globe is here concerned — (perhaps we cannot fix 
 it within precise geographical limits) — \he land, 
 it appears, as distinct from the sea, rivers, &c., is 
 the department upon which the first vial plague 
 descends. 
 
 Aiicl there fell {or rather ensued*) a noisome and 
 grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of 
 the least, and upon them lohich loorshippcd his 
 i7nage.] Here is the efiect of the outpoured vial. 
 It is like that from the ashes of the furnace, which 
 Moses sprinkled of old toward heaven in the sight 
 of Pharaoh, only then man and beast were smitten; 
 whereas, here, me stroke is confined to men, even 
 to the adherents of Antichrist. These parties, by 
 whatever act of apost^y distinguished, shall now 
 begin to taste the fruit of their blasphemous 
 impiety. A festering sore shall fasten on their 
 bodies, disgusting and tormenting. In the midst 
 of their pride and self-sufiiciency, such infliction 
 will have its humiliating influence. It is written, 
 in regard to the similar infliction of old upon the 
 Egyptians, the " boils" — indeed, to describe them, 
 the Septuagint employs the same Greek word 
 which is here rendered " sores^^ — that, because of 
 them, " the magicians could not stand before 
 Moses." Exodus ix. 11. With all their daring 
 energy anil resolution, augmented, doubtless, by 
 
 * Litenilly, teas, {eyevcTO.) 
 
CH.XVi. 1 — 21.] INTERPRETED. S65 
 
 their previous success, these wicked ones were 
 stricken down before the servant of God; their 
 distempered limbs, we can imagine, refusing to 
 do their office. 'So may it be with the adherents 
 of the Antichrist in the last days. They shall be 
 made to drink of the waters of the Divine jealousy, 
 and be called from the pursuit of their impious 
 projects, to the base employment of tending their 
 migry sores, which shall not disappear moreover 
 with the other plagues which follow, but co-exist. 
 (See ver. 11.) If, as we may conceive, the ranks of 
 the Antichrist still contain any Jewish apostates, 
 no doubt they also shall come under this retri- 
 bution ; and herein, perhaps, the Divine threatening 
 of Deut. xxviii., in the event of Israel's forsaking 
 God, will find its fulfilment ;— " The Lord will 
 smite thee with the botch of Egypt." Ver 27. 
 Again, " The Lord shall smite thee in the knees 
 and in the legs with a sore botch that cannot 
 be healed." Ver. S6. And it is observable that 
 here, also, the word employed for botch, in the 
 Septuagint, is the same with the original of sore 
 in the Apocalypse. 
 
 Ver. 3. A?id the second a7Zff el poured out his vial 
 upon the sea.] Adopting the same principle of 
 interpretation here, as in the case of the trumpets,* 
 we should consider that the sea afiected by the vial 
 of the second angel is still the Mediterranean or 
 
 * Cliaiiter ix. 
 
366 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. Xvi. 1 21. 
 
 Great Sea. For to Gentile Antichristian regions, 
 -€qiially as to Palestine, it is adapted in no ordinary 
 way to serve the ends of traffic and intercourse. 
 We must again remember, also, that at this time 
 Palestine is held in occupation by the Antichristian 
 armies. 
 
 And it became as the hlood of a dead man.] Here 
 is the dreadful effect produced. In their harbours 
 and along their coasts, wherever the briny element 
 had been wont to yield its wholesome influence to 
 the inhabitants, it now becomes a mass of blood, 
 stagnant and putrescent. Nor is it that the sea 
 merely assumes this aspect, though our rendering 
 of the clause might denote such mitigated meaning. 
 For the correct translation is, " it became blood, 
 as of a dead man.^^ The note of similitude only f\ 
 belongs to the reference to the teman subject, 0^ 
 whose blood is known to be serous and thick, and 
 no longer fluid as when living. With such matter 
 as this sending forth its noxious exhalations, what 
 a tainted atmosphere must ensue, and how pregnant 
 with disease to all who inhale it ! And as we have 
 regarded the seals to be acondensed parallel of 
 the trumpets and vials, may we not have here 
 presented to us one more element, in detail, of that 
 pestilence which is to succeed the career of war 
 and famine. See chap. vi. 8; Mat. xxiv. 7. 
 
 And every living soul died in the sea.] That is, 
 coextensive with the foregoing disastrous change 
 
CH. Xvi. 1 21.] INTERPRETED. 367 
 
 in their native element, all tlie marine tribes of 
 animals shall perish. But to human life, also, in 
 the case of those navigating the sea, such change 
 may be equally fatal. 
 
 Ver. 4. And the third angel poured out Ms vial 
 upon the rivers and fountains of waters.] Thus, 
 follomng the order of the trumpet jpljtgues, (only 
 here the disaster is not limited to a third part) the 
 inland waters are next smitten — another conducing 
 cause, it may be, to the pestilence already alluded 
 to. ''■^' 
 
 And they heeame blood.'] In the case of the 
 tj^umpet plagues the waters became bitter. Here, 
 again, the effect is worse ; 4jhLe same as under the 
 foregoing vial, they become blood. That the 
 meaning is literal we see confirmed by ver. 6, 
 where the wicked, having blood given them to 
 drink, are said to be thus dealt with in the way of 
 righteous retort, because of their having shed the 
 blood of saints and of prophets. The manifest 
 type of this is seen in God's dealings of old with 
 Pharaoh and the Egyptians — precursors, as they 
 were, of the Antichrist and his followers. See 
 Ex. vii. 20. 
 
 Ver. 5. And I heard the angel of the waters say.] 
 Some have argued from this expression that to 
 angels are assigned a sort of presidency over the 
 different elements of nature. But, probably, as in 
 chap. xiv. 18, " the angel which had power over 
 
368 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. Xvi. 1 21. 
 
 fire" signified the angel of cliap. viii. S, who had 
 filled his censer with fire of the altar ;* so, here, 
 " the angel of the waters" may mean simply, the 
 vial angel who had power over the waters, as just 
 described. 
 
 Thou art righteous, Lord, xohich art, and wast, 
 and shalt he, hecau?,e thou hast judged thus!\ Thus, \ 
 this minister of judgment cannot discharge hi^ ) 
 office without uttering an ascription of praise to 
 his Divine Master. And it accords with the 
 response that shall be awakened in the breast of 
 the Jewish saint under similar circumstances : — 
 " The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the , 
 vengeance : he shall wash his feet in the blood of j 
 the wicked. So that a man shall say, Verily there \ 
 is a reward for the righteous : verily he is a God 
 that judgeth in the earth." Psalm Iviii. 10, 11. 
 
 The burden of exultation, in both these cases, 
 is the vindication at length of Jehovah's character, 
 as the Governor of the world, and the covenant 
 God of his people Israel. His long forbearance 
 with the wicked, and His chastisement of Israel, 
 only just ended, will have seemed to cast a cloud 
 over His glorious attributes. But now they shall 
 be seen to shine forth in all their lustre, never 
 more to be misconstrued. 
 
 The reference in the angel's song to Israel's 
 lapjDy crisis would be more apparent but for the 
 * See vol. ii. p. 326. 
 
CH. Xvi. 1 21.] INTERPRETED. 369 
 
 /Omission from our translation of the import of the 
 word usually rendered holy, (o(tios), but which, as 
 already observed, is a comprehensive term con- 
 nected with the Divine relation to that favoured 
 people.* The clause might with advantage be 
 rendered thus : — " E-ighteous art thou, O Lord, 
 the is, the was, the holy one, because thou hast 
 judged thus." See also Psalm cxlv. 
 
 Ver. 6. i^or they have shed the blood of saints 
 and lyrophets^ The Antichristian enemies of 
 Israel will indeed have thus used the day of their 
 ascendancy. Hence, the plaintive cry of Israel 
 which we find in the Psalms. See Psalm xliv. 22 ; 
 Ixxix. 3. And now that cry will prove to have 
 been heard by their Almighty Goel. " Precious" 
 in His sight will be seen to be the blood of His 
 saints, (Psalm cxvi. 15) ; and the angel reads this 
 in the retribution at length visited upon their cruel 
 persecutors. 
 
 And thou hast given them Mood to drink, for 
 they are tvorthy.] When the plague parallel to 
 this was inflicted upon the Egyptians, we read 
 that they " could not drink of the water of the 
 river ; and there was blood throughout all the 
 land of Egypt." Exodus vii. 21. Instead of 
 water, in fact, the usual sources of supply con- 
 tained only^ blood. Hence, it is added, that they 
 " digged round about the river for water." Ver. 24, 
 
 * See vol. ii. p. 351. 
 
370 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. Xvi. 1 21. 
 
 j Whether they succeeded in their search we are not 
 informed. But, at all events, in the words of the 
 clause before us, " hlood was given them to drink." 
 For He who had before dispensed to them the 
 refreshing element, now assigned to them this 
 i;evolting substitute. So then wiU it be, only, we 
 can conceive, with aggravated intensity, in the 
 coming day of wrath. They who thirsted to shed 
 blood, shall now have it to drink. They lusted 
 for it with cruel heart, and now they shall have it 
 in abundance. For in lieu of wherewithal to 
 slake their physical thirst, they may be reduced 
 to take the unnatural draught within their lips. 
 Thus shall they be brought to a recollection of 
 their crimes, and to feel, if not to acknowledge, 
 the righteous severity of God. When Adonibezek, 
 the Canaanitish king, underwent the amputation 
 of his extremities, he remembered that on three- 
 score and ten kings! he had perpetrated the same 
 severity, and the dxclamation was extorted from 
 him : " As I have done, so God hath requited 
 me." Judges i. 7. Thus may it be with the 
 subjects of this appalling retribution before us. 
 They may peradventure read their sin in their 
 punishment. At all events, the connexion between 
 the two is observed by the .^angelic agent, nor 
 should it be overlooked by us, if we would 
 appreciate the truth that our God is " righteous in 
 all his ways and holy in all his works," Ps,cxlv, 17. 
 
CH. Xvi. 1 21.] INTERPRETED. 371 
 
 To be inspired with such reflection as this, is 
 doubtless, to derive irom the recital, one lesson of 
 personal improvement, intended for us K"y the 
 Spirit. 
 
 Ver. 7. And I heard another out of the altar 
 say?[ According to the best revisions of the 
 original text, this clause runs thus : — ^ And I heard 
 the altar say.^ We should here remember that 
 from under the altar, the souls of the martyrs 
 were represented, in the fifth seal, as crying for 
 vengeance : " How long, O Lord, holy and true, 
 dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them 
 that dwell on the earth.?" E,ev. vi. 10. Therefore, 
 that vengeance now running its course, the altar, 
 not unfitly, becomes vocal, yielding its echo of 
 admiring praise to the notes of the preceding 
 angel. See 1 Kings xiii. 2. 
 
 Even so Lord God Almighty.'] For the import 
 of this threefold title, see pp. 844, 345. 
 
 True and righteous are thy judgments. 1 This is 
 obviously to the same effect with the voice of the 
 angel; and, no doubt, in this acknowledgment,^ 
 but the guilty will be found to unite. See p. 346. 
 
 Ver. 8. And the fourth angel poured out his 
 vial upon the sun^ Still the same order is followed 
 as in the t^mpet plagues, only with more 
 disastrous effecSi See pp. 33, 35. 
 
 A7id power was given unto him to scorch men 
 withjflre.'\ Thus every part of the material system. 
 
372 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. Xvi. 1—21. 
 
 the earth, and the sea, the waters, and the very 
 light of heaven, completely subjected to man's 
 control, as he will vainly think, shall combine, at 
 the Divine bidding, to punish the Anti christian 
 multitude — ' the merC it is literally, as in verse 2. 
 Here, instead of the genial influence of the great 
 luminary of day, with its iittempered warmth, 
 soothing and reviving to human life7«hall--preVail 
 such an extremity of heat as will amount to 
 scorching. Hence also, as already noticed,* the 
 language descriptive of those ultimately redeemed : 
 " Neither shall the sun light on them nor any 
 heat." Chap. vii. 16. 
 
 And men were scorched tvith great heat, and 
 hlasphemed the name of God tvhich hath poioer over 
 these plagues.'] Still the parties are defined the 
 men^ as it is in the Greek, ^. e. the votaries of the 
 Antichrist. Upon such, this new form of judgment . 
 comes ; but like their Egyptian prototypes, they 
 are hardened under it, yea, out of their corrupt 
 hearts proceed " blasphemies." The power of 
 God which they are made to feel only irritates. 
 As sun worship, with other abominations, may be 
 included in the prevailing idolatry of those days, 
 (Ezek. viii. 16) the,4istempering influence of this 
 orb may also wear a retributive aspect, and so 
 inflame the impotent resentment of the guilty. 
 
 How vain, in the light of this picture, the 
 
 * Vol. i. p. 407. 
 
CH. xvi. 1—21.] INTERPRETED. 373 
 
 thought of some, that the torment of the wicked 
 hereafter will tend to their moral reformation ! 
 
 And the\j repented not to give him glory.'] To 
 give glory to God by confessing their sin, and 
 humbling themselves under His mighty hand^^ill 
 havebeen the burden of the everlasting Gospel^ 
 proclaimed to mankind, by the angel flying in the 
 midst of heaven. In marked opposition to this is 
 the event now recorded. See vol. ii. pp. 161, 296. 
 
 Ver. 10. And the fifth angel poured out his vial 
 upon the seat of the beast.] The expression here is 
 literally the throne of the beast. It has occurred 
 before in chap. ii. 13, in connexion with Satan : 
 " I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, 
 even where Satan's seat (throne) is." Such is the 
 address of the Lord Jesus to the angel of the 
 Church of Pergamos ; combining which, with the 
 mention of the Dragon giving to the Beast (Kev. 
 xiii. 2) his seat (throne), it has been already sub- 
 mitted that Pergamos is probably the place where 
 the Antichrist will begin his career. But then, as 
 has been already observed, the revived Babylon 
 is to become the great capital of~his kingdom 
 eventually. Isaiah xiv. 4. Babylon therefore may 
 be the scene of the outpouring of this fifth vial ; 
 and as the moral centre of iniquity, the judgment 
 upon its inhabitants is proportionably severe. 
 
 And his kingdom was full of darkness.] It would 
 seem from this, that not only the city, where will 
 
3*74 tllE AiPOCALYPSE [cH. xvi. 1 — 21. 
 
 be the throne of the Antichrist ; but his empire at 
 large will be affected on this occasion, just as in 
 the plague inflicted by Moses — darkness prevailed 
 " over all the land of Egypt ^ And no doubt, by 
 the circumstantial details annexed to such former 
 visitation, our conception of the present should be 
 aided. Accordingly, as we read that *^ there was 
 a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three 
 days : They saw not one another, neither rose any 
 from his place for three days : but aU the children 
 of Israel had light in their dwellings," (Ex. x. 
 22, 23) we may conjecture that the same dismay — 
 Israel being still excepted — will attach to the 
 future period here represented. See also Joel ii. 
 31, where the darkening of the sun is mentioned 
 as a prominent feature of the " great and terrible 
 day of the Lord." 
 
 Ver. 11. And they gnawed their tongues for 
 pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of 
 their pains and their sores, and repented not of 
 their deeds,] What an awful picture this of 
 suflfering and rage combined. The several plagues 
 now working their effects together,- — the noisome 
 sore, the revolting and pestilential blood instead of 
 water, tantalizing to the excited thirst, and the 
 torrid heat of the sun ; whereat/ now ensues the 
 self-torturing convulsion of despair, and anon the 
 hurling of blasphemous defiance at the offended 
 Majesty of heaven. In the case of the apostate 
 
CH. Xvi. 1 — ^1.] INTERPRETED. Sl5 
 
 Jewish community, upon whom the trumpet 
 plagues descend, we read at the last that the 
 survivors " were affrighted and gave glory to 
 God.'* ch. xi. 13. Not so these Antichristian 
 Gentiles, of them it is here recorded, that they 
 " repented not of their deeds,"-— a token of their 
 appointed doom ; just as it is said of Hophni and 
 Phineas, that " they hearkened not to the voice of 
 their father, because the Lord would slay them." 
 1 Sam. ii. 25. See also 2 Chron. xxv. 16 ; 2 Thes. 
 ii. 11, 12. 
 
 Ver. 12. And the sixth angel poured out Ms vial 
 upon the great river Euphrates.] That this is the 
 literal Euphrates — a principal boundary of the 
 land of Canaan — cannot be doubted by any plain 
 unsophisticated reader. The very phrase as we 
 have it here, " the great river Euphrates," is 
 continually employed in this sense, and no other, 
 in the Old Testament. Gen. xv. 18 ; Deut. i. 7 ; 
 Jos. i. 4. It is a ^ere tradition, and a modern 
 one, that the Turkish Empire is denoted. "^ 
 
 And the xoater thereof was dried up.] We thus 
 learn that there will be a renewal of the Lord's 
 marvellous works of old as at Israel's passage of 
 the Red Sea and the river Jordan. Ex. xiv. 21 ; 
 Josh. iii. 15, 16. To the same effect, speaks the 
 parallel prophecy of Isaiah : — " The Lord shall 
 utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea ; 
 and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand 
 
376 THE APOCALYPSE. [cH. Xvi. 1 21. 
 
 over the river, and shall smite it in the seven 
 streams,* and make men go over dryshod. And 
 there shall be an highway, for the remnant of his 
 people, which shall be left, from Assyria ; like as 
 it was to Israel in the day that he came up out 
 of the land of Egypt." Isaiah xi. 15, 16. The 
 Prophet Zechariah, also, whilst reiterating this 
 miracle, seems to refer to the personal presence of 
 Jehovah as leading the way on the occasion : — 
 " And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, 
 and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the 
 deeps of the river shall dry up." Zech. x. 11. 
 
 That the way of the kings of the east rnight he 
 prepared.^ Here the design of the drying up of 
 the Euphrates is explained — it is for the passage 
 of certain j^arties called " the kings of the east,''^ 
 or more literally ' the kings from the sun-rising."* 
 We had the same expression sun-rising before, 
 in connexion with the agency employed in the 
 sealing of the twelve tribes. See chap. vii. 2. (Gr.) 
 Nor should this coincidence be now lost sight of 
 in the determination of who are intended by the 
 kings in the present vision. It should certainly 
 suggest to us that some of the t;ribes ofjsrael 
 may be concerned. And when we remember 
 that of those tribes, ten were carried away to 
 countries beyond the Euphrates (2Kingsxviii. 11); 
 
 * Tliis clause — " shall smite it in tlie seven streams" may be 
 translated ' shall smite it Into seven streams.' See Keith on Isaiah, 
 a most valuable publication. 
 
CH. Xvi. 1 — 21.] INTERPRETED. 877 
 
 whilst the word of prophecy is full of references, 
 not only to their restoration, in common with 
 the other tribes, but to their employment, of 
 God, in some remarkable way, as the executive 
 of his will in treading down the Antichristian 
 nations, — we should not be unprepared for their 
 introduction into the scene before us, as crossing 
 the Euphrates from the region of their long 
 exile. It may be interesting to add, not as 
 authority, but as showing the purport of ancient 
 opinion on this subject, that alter the manner 
 now assigned, is rehearsed in the Apocryphal 
 book of Esdras, the return of these ten tribes : — 
 " Those are the ten tribes which were carried 
 away prisoners out of their own land, in the 
 time of Osea the king, whom Salmanasar the 
 king of Assyria led away captive, and he carried 
 them over the waters, and so came they into 
 another land. But they took this counsel among 
 themselves, that they would leave the multitude 
 of the heathen, and go forth into a further 
 country, where never mankind dwelt, that they 
 might keep their statutes, which they never 
 kept in their own land. And they entered into 
 Euphrates, by the narrow passages of the river. 
 For the most High then shewed signs for them, 
 and held still the flood, till they were passed 
 over. For through that country there was a great 
 way to go; namely, of a year and a half: and 
 VOL. II. — 17. s 
 
378 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. Xvi. 1 21. 
 
 the same region is called Arsareth. Then dwelt 
 they there until the latter time ; and now when 
 they shall begin to come, the Highest shall stay 
 the springs of the stream again, that they may 
 go through." 2 Esdras xiii. 40—47. 
 
 It only remains to account for the title. Kings, 
 attaching to the ten tribes according to this 
 interpretation. On this point, perhaps, we should 
 call to mind the predicted rule of Israel over 
 the nations. Thus we read of them, that they 
 are to be " a kingdom of Priests" (Ex. xix. 6) ; 
 that the children of the restored Jerusalem are to 
 be made "Princes in all the earth" (Psalm xlv. 16); 
 and that '' the kingdom and dominion, and the 
 greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, 
 shall be given to the people of the saints of the 
 Most High." Dan. vii. 27. 
 
 But one passage in the Prophet Isaiahf may 
 especially be adduced as clearing up, not only the 
 particular phraseology in question, but the whole 
 vision with which it is connected ; a passage 
 which both yields, and, as we shall also find, 
 receives remarkable light from being thus com- 
 pared with the Apocalypse. Indeed, it has bid 
 defiance to commentators, only because of their 
 not seeking its elucidation in this quarter. The 
 passage referred to is Isaiah xli. 2, S. The chapter 
 begins by a summons to the inhabitants of the 
 earth to take knowledge of the act of Jehovah, 
 
CH. Xvi. 1 21.] INTERPRETED. 379 
 
 recited in the following interrogation : — " Who 
 raised up the righteous man from the east, called 
 him to his foot, gave the nations before him, 
 and made him rule over kings ? he gave them 
 as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble 
 to his bow." In vain it is alleged by commentators 
 that the allusion here is to the victorious march 
 of Cyrus, when, at the head of the Medes and 
 Persians, he conquered Babylon. For his con- 
 nection was only with the two tribes which 
 constituted the kingdom of Judah ; whereas, 
 from the context of this prophecy, (ver. 8.) it is 
 obvious that the event celebrated has an especial 
 bearing on the fortunes of Israel or the ten tribes. 
 With as little justice also can this martial 
 career be predicated of Abraham, in regard to 
 the ,Qn^t of himself and his small band of 
 domestic followers upon the confederate kings, 
 mentioned in Genesis xiv. For this was quite 
 a solitary adventure of the kind, in the life of 
 the father of the faithful, and undertaken, not 
 for purposes of dominion and conquest, but 
 simply for the rescue of his nephew. Lot. Neither 
 would the ascription to him| personally, of the 
 traits of a resistless conqueror, subduing nations, 
 and ruling over kings, at all agree with the 
 Spirit's designation of him in the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews : — " By faith he sojourned in the land 
 of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling 
 
380 THE AP0CAL1!PSE [CH. Xvi. 1 21. 
 
 in tabernacles with. Isaac and Jacob, the heirs 
 with him of the said promise : for he looked 
 for a city which hath foundations, whose builder 
 and maker is God." Heb. xi. 9, 10. This is 
 the description, not of a military chieftain, filling 
 the earth with the fame of his deeds of arms, 
 but rather of the quiet unobtrusive occupant 
 of pastoral life. 
 
 The only other view of this prophecy which 
 remains to be noticed is that which applies it 
 to the person of Messiah. The allegation in 
 regard to his first advent is, of course, unworthy 
 of attention. Neither, however, is it satisfactory 
 if we extend it to the period of his second advent, 
 except as we include Israel or the ten tribes 
 under his leadership ; which is, in fact, equivalent 
 to an admission that the ten tribes are the parties 
 intended. And such, it is submitted, in the light 
 of the Apocalypse, is the true interpretation of 
 the passage, evading none of its clauses, whilst 
 to one especially it assigns a fulness of meaning, 
 not otherwise obtained. 
 
 1. In the first place, comparing verse 1, with 
 verse 8, " the righteous man" answers to the 
 ten tribes, or Israel, ^es^ded up, as they are, 
 in the person of their greatTorefather whether 
 Jacob or Abraham ; and both, it will be observed, 
 are in the Divine mind, on the occasion of the 
 utterance of this prophecy. 
 
CH. Xvi. 1 21.1 INTERPRETED. 381 
 
 2. Secondly, to these mrties^ Israel, or the 
 ten tribes, we learn from other~Scriptures, belongs 
 just such a career of conquest over the nations 
 as is here rehearsed. Jer. li. 19 — 28. Indeed, in 
 this very context, such glorious destiny of Israel 
 is alluded to : — " Fear not, thou worm, Jacob, . . . 
 Behold I will make thee a new sharp threshing 
 instrument having teeth : thou shalt thresh the 
 mountains and beat them small, and shalt make 
 the hills as chaif. Thou shalt fan them, and the 
 wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind 
 shalt scatter them." Isaiah xli. 14 — 16. By these 
 allusions to the processes of husbandry, threshing 
 and winnowing, wherein the sheaves were wont 
 to be crushed, and the chaff scattered to the 
 winds, the avenging progress of Israel against 
 their enemies is most strikingly represented. 
 
 3. Thirdly, they shall come from the East, 
 inasmuch as they shall come from beyond the 
 Euphrates, according to the vision before us in the 
 Apocalypse. 
 
 4. But, fourthly, — and this is the point to 
 which the reader's attention has been already 
 bespoken, — their passage over the channel of the 
 dried up river exactly answers to the Prophet's 
 language : " He pursued them, and passed safely, 
 
 EVEN BY THE, WAY THAT HE HAD NOT GONE 
 
 WITH HIS FEET." The explanation of this latter 
 clause, by the event before us in the Apocalypse, 
 is full and clear, whilst on no other view that has 
 
THE APOCALYPSE, [cH. Xvi. 1 21. 
 
 been advanced, can any thing really intelligible 
 be gleaned from it. The following are specimens 
 of what commentators, with other views of the 
 passage, have been reduced to put forth. 
 
 AjDplying it to Abraham, Matthew Henry says, 
 that the patriarch " pursued them (the kings who 
 had carried off Lot) and passed safely, or in peace, 
 under the Divine protection, though it was in a 
 way he was altogether unacquainted with ^ * 
 
 Bishop Horsley, who takes the reference to be 
 to a personification of true religion as planted by 
 Christ, observes : " By the propagation of the 
 Gospel, it was carried through roads untrodden hy 
 it hefore, into regions which it had never visited. 
 But," adds the learned prelate, " if Christ be the 
 person intended by the noun"T*7^, the promulgation 
 of the Gospel by instruments "naturally unqualified 
 for the business, is proverbially described in these 
 expressions. The first preachers of the Gospel, not 
 hred in the schools of human learning, travelled a 
 road which they had never trodden before when they 
 engaged hi controversy with the Jewish Divines and 
 the Greek Philosophers, and made their apologies 
 before kings and rulers ; and Christ, hi these His 
 emissaries, opened an unbeaten road, and p>assed 
 through it safely. ^^ f 
 
 Mr. Govett writes : " By his ' passing safely a 
 way not trodden with his feet,' is signified that the 
 
 * Matthew Henry, in loco. + BisLop Horsley, iu loco. 
 
CH. Xvi. 1 — 21.] INTERPRETED. 383 
 
 advent of the Saviour shall he from heaven, and 
 in a cloud, 7iot upon the earth, as the false MessiaJvs 
 who assumes his name and arrogates his powers^* 
 Barnes, who adopts the view of the expeditions 
 of Cyrus being alluded to, says : " The idea here is, 
 that he (Cyrus) had not travelled in these regions 
 until he did it for purposes of conquest.^'' f 
 
 Keith, indeed, approaches the identification ol 
 the ten tribes as the parties intended, but from 
 overlooking this vision of the Apocalypse, is 
 constrained to dismiss the passage thus : '^ Its 
 import can be known only by its accomplishment.":!: 
 All this obscurity, practically disclosed and 
 admitted by different writers on their respective 
 -^-. hypothesis, may serve to commend to the reader 
 the interpretation now proposed, which leaves no 
 obscurity behind ; the passage of the exhausted 
 Euphrates being emphatically a way not trodden 
 before hy the feet of Israel. 
 
 What will be the appointed career for these 
 recovered and Divinely conducted tribes, after they 
 cross the Euphrates, is not here mentioned ; but 
 from other Scriptures we may gather, that they will 
 be used of God against Antichristian nations, and 
 especially it would seem, against Babylon, as the 
 principal human organization for its destined 
 destruction. Jer. li. 24. Thus, under the head of 
 
 * Eev. R. Govett's " Isaiah Uufulfilled," in loco. 
 
 + Barues on Isaiah, in loco. t Keith, " Isaiah as it is." 
 
o84 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. Xvi. 1 21. 
 
 " the burden of Babylon/' we read : " I have com- 
 manded my sanctified ones, I have also called my 
 mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice 
 in my highness. The noise of a multitude in the 
 mountains, like as of great people ; a tumultuous 
 noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together; 
 the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. 
 They come from a far country, from the end of 
 heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his 
 indignation, to destroy the whole land." Isa. xiii. 
 S — 5. Here, it is probable, that by " my sanctified 
 ones^"^ are meant Israel, or the ten tribes ; whilst, 
 by the following term, ^^ my migldy ones,^^ certain 
 Gentile powers may be denoted, who shall act with 
 Israel in Divinely ordered concert. Elsewhere, this 
 two-fold agency is still more clearly defined, and 
 the panic it produces is added : " One post shall 
 run to meet another, and one messenger to meet 
 another, to shew the king of Babylon that his 
 city is taken at one end, and that the passages are 
 stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, 
 and the men of war are aflfrighted." Jer. li. 31, 32. 
 Again, the incursion of the same parties seems con- 
 templated in the prophet Daniel, where we read 
 that "tidings out of the"(e(2S^ and out of the north (the 
 very regions assignable to the ten tribes, and the 
 fore-mentioned Gentile powers) shall trouble him," 
 i.e. the Antichrist — the king of Babylon. Dan.xi.44. 
 \ That many from amongst the tribes of Judah 
 
CH. xvi. 1 — ^1.] INTERPRETED. 385 
 
 will be again captive in Babylon is clearly implied 
 by the summons to tliem, at some favourable crisis, 
 to depart out of her f and, possibly, that crisis will 
 be when the ten tribes assemble in the siege against 
 her. The deliverance of Judah being thus effected, 
 then, also, may be the period for the movement of 
 all the tribes combined towards their own land, 
 according to the language of Hosea : " Then shall 
 the children of Judah and the children of Israel 
 be gathered together, and appoint themselves one 
 head, and they shall come up out of the land 
 (e. e. from the earth, from all parts of the earth, 
 according to Bishop Horsley) : for great shall be 
 the day of Jezreel." Hos. i. 11. See also Jer. 1. 4; 
 Isa. xi. 12, 13. Perhaps, in Ps. cvii., we have a 
 rehearsal of the varied marvellous experience of 
 these favoured tribes, as they pursue their way to 
 the land of their fathers. 
 
 Ver. 13. And I saw three unclean spirits like 
 frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out 
 of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of 
 the false prophet?^ We have just seen Jehovah's 
 procedure in regard to Israel, or the ten tribes — 
 mustering them, in the face of the nations, for their 
 career of victorious warfare, of old assigned to 
 them. And now, answering to this, we have a 
 diabolical agency at work, to organize the powers 
 
 * Isa. xlviii. 20 ; lii. 11 ; Jer. 1. 8, 28 ; li. 6, 45 ; Zecli. ii. 6, 7. 
 Compare Rev. xviii. 4, with Zech. xiv. 2. 
 
 s 3 
 
386 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xvi. 1 — 21. 
 
 of the earth in rebellion against the Divine will. 
 Such agency, we know, was employed at the first 
 advent of our Lord to enthral the bodies of men ; 
 and ere the exorcising voice of the Great Deliverer 
 was obeyed, the unclean spirit was wont to convulse 
 its victim with desperate though abortive struggles. 
 Mark ix. 26, 26. It should not, therefore, surprise 
 us, that at the period of the second advent to 
 redeem the earth, unclean spirits should be com- 
 missioned to evoke resistance from every quarter 
 of the globe. - .. 
 
 That these emissaries of evil issue out of the 
 mouth of the Dragon, the Beast, and the False 
 Prophet, the infernal Trinity of hell, as they may 
 be denominated, is significant of the complete 
 authority with which they shall be endued ; 
 whilst their comparison to frogs is, perhaps, only 
 intended to be in keeping with their alleged issue 
 Irom the mouth of their blasphemous Patrons. 
 
 Ver. 14. For they are the spirits of devils, 
 working miracles, which go forth unto the kings 
 [of the earth and] of the whole world, to gather 
 them to the battle of that great day of God 
 Almighty.] Here we have a further designation 
 of these diabolical agents ; they are the spirits of 
 devils or demons^ The special purport of their 
 mission is, also, defined ', namely, to incite " the 
 kings of the whole world," (the previous clause, 
 * Upon tlie meaning of this word see vol. ii. p. 82. 
 
CH. Xvi. 1 — 21,] INTERPRETED. o87 
 
 " of tlie earth," is considered to be an inter- 
 polation,) to insurrection against the Divine 
 purpose. A clear precedent of this employment 
 of evil spirits is supplied to us in the Old 
 Testament, in the history of Ahab's expedition 
 against Ramoth -gilead — a history, no doubt, 
 typical of the very scene before us. At first, the 
 naked fact is stated of Ahab's determination to 
 prosecute this expedition, at the instigation of the 
 False Prophets. This is all that appears to the 
 eye of sense. But, presently, the curtain of the 
 invisible world is drawn by the faithful J^Iicaiah, 
 who recounts the vision he had had of the secret 
 process of delusion : — " I saw the Lord," he says, 
 " sitting upon his throne, and all the host of 
 heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. 
 And the Lord said. Who shall entice Aliab king 
 of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth- 
 gilead ? And one spake, saying after this manner, 
 and another saying after that manner. Then 
 there came out a spirit, and stood before the 
 Lord, and said, I will entice him. And the Lord 
 said unto him, Wherewith ? And he said, I will 
 go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all 
 his prophets. And the Lord said. Thou shalt 
 entice him, and thou shalt also prevail : go out, 
 and do even so. Now therefore, behold, the 
 Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of 
 these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken 
 
S88 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. XVi. 1 21. 
 
 evil against thee." 2 Chron. xviii. 18 — 22. Here 
 is disclosed the working of an evil spirit, (of 
 course^ by permission of God,) as at the root of 
 Ahab's enterprize against Ramoth-gilead. The 
 false prophets, who surrounded the impious 
 monarch, were but co7iducto7's of the inspiration 
 from beneath ; and in like manner will it be at 
 the crisis before us. The spirits of devils, 
 gnergizing in the false prophets that will then 
 aboundT^all combine all earthly rule and prin- 
 cipality and power in one common opposition to 
 the coming kingdom of Messiah. 
 
 To this, also, agrees the note of warning, 
 concerning the latter times, which is given in the 
 Epistles. " Some," writes St. Paul, " shall depart 
 from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits 
 and doctrines (teachings) of devils." 1 Tim. iv. 1. 
 And, to the same effect, Peter admonishes to 
 beware of " false teachers," whom he classes with 
 the false prophets of old. 2 Peter ii. 1. 
 
 Thus manifold agencies of evil shall be in 
 requisition to deceive mankind. But still, in all 
 this, God's hand will be uppermost, at length 
 bringing to an issue the strife between good and 
 evil. And so, the end is defined to be, in this 
 case, a gathering of the kings of the earth to 
 " the battle of that great day of God Almighty," 
 as we also read in the Prophet Zephaniah : — 
 " Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, 
 
CH. XVi. 1 — 21.] INTERPRETED. 
 
 until the day that I rise up to the prey : for my 
 determination is to gather the nations^ that I may 
 assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine 
 indignation, even all my fierce anger : for all the 
 earth shall be devoured with the fire of my 
 jealousy." Zeph. iii. 8. See also, Joel iii. 2. 
 
 Ver. 15. Behold, I come as a thief. '\ The 
 interjection here of this solemn warning would 
 seem to imply that now, at this juncture, the 
 iniquity of the nations has become full ; and, 
 therefore, the personal coming of the Lord Jesus 
 to take vengeance upon them, may occur at any 
 moment. The reader, however, will remember 
 that this is the coming of the Lord ivith his saints, 
 not his coming for them — the previous event 
 which so especially constitutes the hope of the 
 Church of God. See on chap. iii. 4, vol. 1, 
 p.p. 188—198, 248. 
 
 Blessed is he that ivatcheth, and heepeth his 
 garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his 
 shame.] The night of Antichristian violence will 
 have lasted so long, amidst the earnest aspirations 
 after the promised day, that we can easily 
 imagine the faithful on the earth to need a 
 stimulus to continued vigilance. Hope excited and 
 deferred, often produces a depressing influence.* 
 We know that Israel's sufferings of old, at the 
 hand of Pharaoh, being at first aggravated by the 
 
 * Proverbs xiii. 12. 
 
390 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. XvL 1 21. 
 
 very intervention of Moses to deliver them, led 
 them to despair of enlargement (Ex.v. 20,21); and 
 the same experience, with its paralysing tendency, 
 may operate at the crisis before us. Here, 
 accordingly, is a jiotjs of combined comfort and 
 warning, such as the occasion requires. See also 
 Luke xxi. 34—36. 
 
 The latter clause, " keepeth his garments," &c., /^ 
 is supposed by some to refer to the ^[ewish custom ^ 
 •of the captain of the temple perambulating the 
 different wards at night, and aisgrscing those 
 watchmen whom he found slumbering at their 
 posts by firing their dress. But, perhaps, the 
 simple allusion is to the case of a j^arty appointed 
 to hold himself in readiness for a sudaen expedition, 
 being surprised in the undress which only belongs 
 to the ni^it season. In the parable which our 
 Lord spoke of the marriage feast, illustrating 
 thereby the preliminary events connected with the 
 introduction of the kingdom of heaven, {Jewish 
 hope, be it remembered) he seems to couch the 
 same warning under the similitude of the man 
 without a wedding garment, who, when inter- 
 rogated on the subject, was speechless ,* and was 
 then cast into outer darkness. Matt. xxii. 12. To 
 those thus represented, then, a nakedness may be 
 said td^atta^ch, in the language of Scripture, just as 
 it is ascribed to Peter on the occasion of his 
 being without the usual, overcoat of the fisherman. 
 
CH. Xvi. 1 — 21.] INTERPllETED. 891 
 
 John xxi. 7. Children of God ! to you appertains 
 more than the kingdom, even glorious fellowship 
 with the Great King himself. Oh, then, " gird up 
 the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the 
 end for the grace which is to be brought unto you 
 at his revelation" — the very dawn of his appearing. 
 1 Petrirl^r '*'*' Ye are children of the day, and are 
 not in darkness that that day should overtake you 
 as a thief. Watch, therefore, and be sober," and 
 hearken to the tender touching gracious argument 
 of the Holy Ghost, whereby he urges this exhort- 
 ation : " For God hath not appointed us to wrath," 
 (the dreadful ordeal of the day of the Lord, 
 through which others shall have to pass) '' but to 
 obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who 
 died for us, that, whether we watch * or sleep, we 
 should live together with him." 1 Thes. v. 9, 10. 
 As much as to say : ' The love of the Lord Jesus has 
 been irrevocable to you. Even if you sleep, like 
 the disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, he has 
 died for you, as he groaned and agonized for them. 
 Matt. xxvi. 37 — 45. Surely, this generous appeal 
 of unconditional uncalculating love must be an 
 antidote to all sleep, all unwatchfulness ! ' 
 
 * I have translated this word, as it unquestionably ought to be 
 translated, in imiformity with its use in the former jmrt of the 
 context. And I may add, that the word " sleep," to which it is 
 opposed, is a different word from that employed in 1 Thes. iv. 14 ; 
 and therefore the allusion is not, as may appear at first sight, to 
 the quick and dead in Christ, but to the watchfulness and un- 
 watchfulness of living believers. 
 
39^ THE APOCALYPSE [cH. Xvi. 1 ^1. 
 
 Ver. 16. And he gathered them together into a 
 place called in the Hebrew tongue At^mageddon.] 
 It is a common rule, in Greek, for a neuter plural 
 to take a verb in the singular ; accordingly, the 
 reading here may be, " and theg (i. e. the unclean 
 spirits) gathered them," a reading, moreover, 
 which is more consonant with the context ; 
 although, if we take the clause as it is, it may be 
 still intelligible, as indicating that, after all, this 
 gathering together of his enemies is of the Lord 
 himself, as He designs to overrule it for his 
 own glory. The place of muster is designated 
 Armageddon, to which name various etymologies 
 are assigned. But, doubtless, the most correct 
 is that which connects it with Megiddo, in the 
 land of Palestine ; where, at the instigation of 
 Deborah, Barak, with ten thousand men of the 
 children of Napthali and Zabulon, routed the 
 hosts of Jabin, king of Canaan. 
 
 1. The record of this battle is of itself suggestive 
 of the scene before us, for it is summed up in 
 similar words : " The kings came and fought ; 
 then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by 
 the waters of Megiddo." Judges v. 19. 
 
 2. The cause of Israel's victory, on this occa- 
 sion, was that the Lord went before them 
 (Judges iv. 14.) ; and so, in the final conflict, 
 the Lord heads his armies, doubtless including 
 Israel. Rev. xix. 11 — 14. 
 
CH. xvi. 1 — 21.] INTERPRETED. 
 
 8. The inspired celebration, by Deborah, of 
 Israels's triumph, obviously makes it the pattern 
 and type of some future demonstration against 
 all the enemies of God : " So let all thine enemies 
 perish, O Lord; but let them that love Him be 
 as the sun when he goeth forth in his might." 
 Judges V. 31. 
 
 Ver. IT. A?id the sevetith angel poured out his 
 vial into the air.] To understand the import of 
 this seventh vial, we should bear in mind the 
 position in which matters are left under the sixth 
 vial; that, by the agency of wicked spirits, the 
 kings of the whole world have been gathered 
 together within the confines of the holy land, in 
 arms against Jehovah and in opposition to his 
 purposes. The seventh vial, it is therefore 
 natural to suppose, comprehends the Divine 
 judgments on this confederacy. But will it be 
 only a confederacy of the powers of earth ? Or 
 rather will it not include other parties, even 
 legions of evil angels, with their superhuman 
 resources ? The question seems solved in the 
 affirmative by the language of the Prophet Isaiah, 
 in manifest allusion to this tremendous scene of 
 conflict ; " And it shall come to pass in that day, 
 that the Lord shall punish the host of the high 
 ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth 
 upon the earth. And they shall be gathered 
 together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit." 
 
394 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. Xvi. 1 21. 
 
 Isaiah xxiv. 21, 22. Here is certainly a twofold 
 band of belligerents dealt with ; a contrast is even 
 drawn between them in regard to their respective 
 seats of action. One party, the kings of the 
 earth, occupy the earth, the other are on high. 
 Who can these latter be but wicked spirits ; who, 
 notwithstanding their precipitation from heaven 
 to earth, (see chap. xii. 9,) may yet be holding a 
 position of ascendancy, immediately over the 
 heads of their human allies, rallying them to the 
 dreadful combat ? Hence it is, perhaps, that, as a 
 sign of discomfiture to the whole rebellious host, 
 the seventh angel pours his vial into the air, the 
 seat of those malicious demons. See Ephes. ii. 2 ; 
 vi. 12. 
 
 And there came a great voice out of the temple 
 of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.] 
 To initiate the outpouring of the vials, a great 
 voice had issued forth out of the temple. Ver. I. 
 The same voice, doubtless, which noAv proclaims 
 the process of judgment to be consummated ; 
 and as it comes '^ from the throne,^"" the natural 
 inference is, as already observed, that it is 
 the voice of the Lord Jesus, referred to in 
 chap. i. 10 ; and chap. iv. 1. This is confirmed 
 by the fact, that in chap. xxi. 6, the same emphatic 
 word, " it is done,^^ is pronounced by the Lord 
 Jesus ; which word, also, as it there obviously 
 contemplates the final act of redemption in the 
 
CH. Xvi. 1 21.] INTERPRETED. 395 
 
 creation of the new heavens and earth, possesses, 
 perhaps, the like extended meaning here. And 
 thus the destruction of the Antichristian hosts, 
 with its attendant events, is presented to the eye 
 of faith, as amongst the last pangs to be gone 
 through by this travailing world, and as the 
 harbinger of its consummated blessedness. 
 
 Ver. 18. And there were voices, and thunders, 
 and lightnings^ See on chap. iv. 5 ; viii. 5 ; 
 xi. 19. 
 
 And there teas a great earthquake, such as was 
 not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an 
 earthquake, and so great ^ As already observed, 
 on the relation between the seals, the trumpets, 
 and the vials of this book, the two latter series 
 being the detailed rendering out of the judgment 
 on Jew and Gentile/^^whrch" are condensed under 
 the one former series, the great earthquake here 
 and that of the sixth seal (chap. vi. \2) are the 
 same.* The consternation and dismay there 
 depictedy^harmonize ,atleast with the terrifying 
 character of the phenomenon in its present 
 recital, whilst the introduction into such of other 
 emotions agitating men's breasts now, even rage 
 and blasphemy, only shews that herein the mind 
 of the Spirit is to mark the ultimate exasperation 
 which succeeds, and it may be by a very rapid 
 transition. There will be a change, we have 
 
 * See vol. i. pp. 807—314; vol. ii. p. 154. 
 
396 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xvi. 1 — 21. 
 
 seen,* from consternation to resistance ; and that 
 blasphemy should accompany that resistance is 
 what we should expect. 
 
 The unprecedented greatness of this earthquake, 
 which is so emphatically affirmed, should lead us 
 perhaps to interpret of the same phenomenon the 
 tremendous commotions alluded to in Psalm xviii. 
 " Then the earth shook and trembled : the 
 foundations also of the hills moved and were 
 
 shaken, because he was wroth 'J "hen the 
 
 channels of waters were seen, and the foundations 
 of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, 
 O Lord, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. 
 He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out 
 
 of many waters He brought me forth 
 
 also into a large place ; he delivered me, because 
 he delighted in me." Ver. 7, 15, 16, 19. The 
 purport of these last expressions being the 
 celebration, in the person of Messiah, of Israel's 
 complete redemption, confirms the idea that the 
 phenomena described belong to this earthquake 
 under the seventh vial. For here, also, the 
 connection is the same, as we shall see presently 
 by the verses which follow. 
 
 In the Prophet Ezekiel, moreover, in reference 
 to the invasion of the land of Israel by the armies 
 of Gog, which coincides, we cannot doubt, with 
 the gathering together of the kings of the earth, 
 
 * Compare chap. vi. 10, with chap. xix. 19, and see vol. i. p. -370. 
 
CH. XVi. 1 — 21.] INTERPRETED. 397 
 
 the earthquake before us seems plainly discernible 
 under the following allusion : '^ Surely in that 
 day there shall be a great shaking in the land of 
 Israel ; so that the fishes of the sea, and the foM'ls 
 of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all 
 creeping things that creep upon the earth, and 
 all the men that are upon the face of the earth, 
 shall shake at my presence ; and the mountains 
 shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall 
 fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground." 
 Ezek. xxxviii. 19, 20. Are not the convulsions 
 of this same earthquake further included in the 
 language of the Prophet Haggai ? (and here, also, 
 the connection is with the renewal of the Divine 
 favor to the Jewish people) — " Thus saith the 
 Lord of hosts, Yet once, it is a little while, and 
 I will shake the heavens and the earth, and the 
 sea and the dry land ; and I will shake all nations." 
 Hag. ii. 6, 7. 
 
 Ver. 19. And the great city toas divided into 
 three parts.] We have already had mention 
 made of Jerusalem, under this title, " the great 
 city." Chap. xi. 8. And although it is- quite 
 true that such title belongs to Babylon as well, 
 yet the context indicates the allusion here to be 
 again to the former. For, Babylon comes to be 
 expressly spoken of in a following clause ; and 
 its fall is entire, not limited to a third part. 
 Moreover, the foregoing gathering of kings being 
 
398 THE APOCALYPSE [cH. Xvi. 1 21. 
 
 to Armageddon, situate in the land of Palestine, 
 the transition to Jerusalem, the capital thereof, 
 seems to be more natural — more in unison with 
 the subject. 
 
 A '^ tentJi part" of it (the city) will have fallen 
 before, on the occasion of God's interposition 
 in behalf of his slaughtered witnesses, raising them 
 from the dead in the sight of their exulting 
 enemies, and in the ruin will have perished 
 multitudes of the apostate Jews. Chap. xi. 13. 
 But now the scene of devastation shall be greater^- 
 a third part shall fall ; and it may be because the 
 parties concerned are the Antichristian Gentiles. 
 
 sPerhaps, coincident with this effect of the 
 earthquake on the city, will be the cleaving in 
 twain of the Mount of Olives, and the formation 
 in the midst of " a very great valley," according 
 to the prophecy of Zechariah. Chap. xiv. 4. 
 
 And the cities of the nations fell^ That is, 
 the confederate nations ; of whose kings we have 
 been reading as assembled at Armageddon. Thus 
 the day of the Lord shall be " upon every high 
 tower and upon every fenced wall." Isaiah ii. 15. 
 
 And great Bahylon came in remembrance 
 before God.^ That is, the literal city of this 
 name yet to be revived,* the teeming source of 
 every aboRrrrratioh — the centre, whence iniquity 
 will be propagated throughout the earth, in 
 * See vol. i. p.p. IGl— 103; 364—368; vol. ii. 302—304. 
 
CH. Xvi. 1 21.] I^^TERPIlETED. 399 
 
 contrast with Jerusalem, whence ^' will go forth 
 the law, and the word of the Lord." Isaiah ii. 3. 
 This corrupt and corrupting city will now come 
 under the Divine judgment, even as Sodom and 
 Gomorrah of old ; whose manner of destruction, 
 further yields some features of similitude to the 
 doom which yet awaits Babylon. Isaiah xiii. 19. 
 
 To give unto her the cup of the wine of the 
 fierceness of his wrath^ The language here used 
 in regard to this retribution on Babylon, is 
 doubtless intended, to answer to her infamous 
 distinction, as circulating among the nations her 
 golden cup of abomination. She will have made 
 them drunk with the wine of the wrath of her 
 fornication. Now she shall drink herself of the 
 wine of the fierceness of the Divine wrath, or 
 rather, she has already drunk of it under the vial 
 judgments, which, as to their particular bearing on 
 her, will be yet more minutely detailed ; and all 
 that remains is the consummating stroke ready to 
 descend on her, the rehearsal of which presently 
 follows. 
 
 Ve<r. 20. And every island fled away^ arid the 
 mountains loere not found.l Thus we have further 
 information as to the effect of the earthquake ; 
 and hereby we are again led to identify it with 
 the earthquake under the sixth seal. For, amongst 
 the concomitant prodigies there related, we read: 
 " every mountain and island were moved out of 
 
400 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. xvi. 1 — 21. 
 
 their places.^^ Rev. vi. 14. The parallelism of 
 expression with the clause before us is strikingly 
 obvious. It is not the scene, of course, which is 
 rehearsed in chap, xx., where "it"^is said that 
 '^ the heaven fled away^^ from the face of him that 
 sat on the great white throne. Ver. 11. This 
 takes place at the close of the millei^al dis- /' 
 pensation, when shall be the " new heavens and a 
 new earth" state — the consummation of this world's 
 regenerate condition under that nreliminary reign 
 of Christ' and his saints. But thmigh— net the 
 final ordeal reserved for creation to pass through, 
 yet this before us may be attended with more 
 of physical catastrophe. It seems indeed to 
 convey to the mind the idea of chaos come 
 again -, as though the whole earth was Y^ueed 
 to the condition mentioned in Genesis — " without 
 form and void." Gen. i. 2. And, indeed, in the 
 Old Testament, such is the very description of 
 this crisis employed bj^the Holy Ghost: " I beheld 
 the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void ; 
 and the heavens^ and they had no light. I beheld 
 the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the 
 hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was 
 no man, and all the birds of the heavens were 
 fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a 
 wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken 
 down at the presence of the Lord, and by his 
 fierce anger." Jer. iv. 23 — 26. Here is every 
 
\ 
 
 CH.Xvi. 1 21.] INTERPRETED. 401 
 
 accumulation of expression to indicate a complete 
 revolution of the earth, quite coming up to the 
 imagery of the Apocalypse.* 
 
 Aiid there fell upon men a great hail out of 
 heaven^ Such was amongst the visitations of old 
 upon Egypt : — " There was hail, and fire mingled 
 with hail, very grievous, such as there was none 
 like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a 
 
 * It may be iuterestiug to observe, in passing, tbat the foregoing 
 description, " witbout form and void," being manifestly applied, as 
 in tbis passage, to a state of disorganization sitperinduced by 
 judgment, furnisbes a clue for tbe understanding of Gen. i. 2, 
 whereby to meet every possible allegation of Geology concerning 
 the antiquity of tbe matter of the earth. 
 
 Thus, when it is said, " In the beginning God created the 
 heaven and tbe earth," ver. J, we may understand this, as referring 
 not to an inchoate but complete work of tbe Divine hand ; tbat is, 
 not to the mere origination of matter — but to its organization as 
 heaven and earth, according, be it observed, to the precise words 
 of tbe text. Then — as the sacred record adds, in another distinct 
 proposition, — "The earth was (or became, as we may read it, and 
 looking to the analogy of Jer. iv. 23, we may add, by reason of 
 some stroke ofjudjment) without form and void." Ver. 2. Indeed, 
 the proposition of a chaotic state attaching to the earth originally, 
 is emphatically denied in the Prophet Isaiah, — *' For thus saith 
 the Lord tbat created the heavens ; God himself that formed the 
 earth and made it, he hath established it, he created it not ix 
 VAIN," or WITHOUT FORM, (the word is tbe same as in Genesis.) 
 Isaiah xlv. 18. How long, accordingly, before it was reduced to 
 this state, and how long it lay therein afterwards, ere Jehovah 
 spoke it into form for man's occupation, as we are not informed iu 
 Scripture, so it is obvious there is nothing for the deductions of 
 science to contradict. 
 
 VOL. II. 18. T 
 
402 THE APOCALYPSE [CH. Xvi. 1 21. 
 
 nation. And the hail smote throughout all the 
 land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man 
 and beast ; and the hail smote every herb of the 
 field, and brake every tree of the field." Exodus 
 ix. 24, 25. 
 
 Every stone about the weight of a talent.] In 
 regard to the plague of hail upon Egypt, we are 
 not informed of its size, though it must have been 
 considerable, from its doing damage to both man 
 and beast. Here, however, the description is more /y 
 minute ; the hail is compared to a talent, that is, 
 to a hundred pounds in weight, so ponderous and 
 crushing shall it be in its descent. Perhaps, the 
 best aid to our conception of this tremendous 
 infliction is the account of Israel's warfare, of 
 old, against the Canaanites, wherein we read that, 
 on one occasion, *' as they (the Canaanites) fled 
 from before Israel, and were in the going down to 
 Eeth-horon, that the Lord cast down great stones 
 from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they 
 died : they were more which died with hailstones 
 than they whom the children of Israel slew with 
 the SAVord." Josh. x. 11. 
 
 And men (the men) blasphemed God because of 
 the jjlague of the hail ; for the plague thereof was 
 exceeding great.] Such will be the effect upon the 
 Antichrist and his hosts, of even this manifest 
 display of judgment from heaven. Those who 
 survive — perhaps the very parties in whose 
 
CH. Xvi. 1 21.] INTEllPKETEI). 403 
 
 Crushed bodies life only lingers for a season — will 
 blaspheme God ; another proof that mere punish- 
 ment is not reformatory of the wicked. See on 
 ver. 11. 
 
 Having thus arrived at the close of the third 
 integral division of this book, it may be well to 
 reiiiind the reader that there has now passed 
 before him the revelation of the day of wrath and 
 righteous judgment of God, which the Apostle 
 speaks of as ready to descend upon the Jew first and 
 also upon the Gentile. Rom. ii. 5 — 11. Under the 
 trumpets, the visitation on the former is rehearsed; 
 under the vials, that on the latter, — both series being- 
 comprised, it is to be observed, within that of the 
 seals. This disclosure of the future, how pregnant 
 with alarm to a careless world ! And though the 
 elect Church of God be not themselves to be 
 involved in it,* yet is it plain that they have it 
 confided to them, as was the fate of Sodom and 
 Gomorrah to Abraham, to be matter of communion 
 with God, and faithful testimony among men. 
 
 Oh, that every child of God, who reads these 
 pages, may be thus exercised in heart and life ! 
 And so in his case, at least, the practical power 
 
 * This exemption of the Church from the hitter-day trtbuhition, 
 as ah-eady noticed, is implied in its omission from tbe classification 
 of mankind in the text just cited, for it enumerates ouly Jews and 
 Gentiles, whereas, in the category of 1 Cor. x. 32, designed to 
 include the Church — the same is expressly mentioned — " the Jews, 
 the Gentiles, and the Church of God." See Vol. i. 312, 313. 
 T 2 
 
# 
 
 « 
 
 404 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. Xvi. 1 21. 
 
 of this book of the Apocalypse be at length 
 vindicated. When Israel of old, in Egypt, were 
 observed abiding within their .^lood be-sprinkled 
 houses, staff in hand, awaiting the signal to be 
 gone, the Egyptians, doubtless, felt a presage 
 of their impending woe. Child of God ! who 
 art conversant with this book of the Apocalypse, 
 let the same eloquence of posture be yours, to 
 admonish a careless world. Let it be seen that 
 you build your home on high, — ^token of the shock 
 which is coming upon all below, the vain portion 
 of those that know not God. 
 
 END OF SECOND VOLUME. 
 
INDEX OF NAMES AND MATTERS. 
 
 Aaron, the priests of his order, 
 typical signification of the 
 " molten sea," in which tliey 
 were wont to wash, 339. 
 
 Abaddon, the title of " the 
 angel of the bottomless pit," 
 the leader of the locust- 
 fiends, 52, 53 ; he maij be 
 identical with Satan's agent, 
 and symbolized by the " star 
 fallen," of the fifth Trumpet, 
 who liberates the fiends, 41, 
 42, 52 ; or, he may be one of 
 the liberated fiends them- 
 selves, 53 ; " the four angels 
 bound, at the Euphrates," are 
 his suitable fellow-workers, 
 62 ; his "name in the Hehreiv, 
 Abaddon, may signify that, 
 wherever the word occurs, in 
 the Old Testament, he is 
 pointed at, 53 ; in most of 
 the passages, where the word 
 occurs, it is associated with 
 the word " hell," or " hades ;" 
 what may be inferred, 58 ; 
 " his name Apollyon," " in 
 the Greek tongue," what it 
 may signify, 54, 55 ; it would 
 appear that our Lord dis- 
 comfited him, at His resur- 
 rection, 54. 
 See Abyss, 
 Abyss, the 2^it of, is a more 
 literal expression for " the 
 bottomless pit," 42 ; denotes 
 the place of confinement for 
 wicked spu-its, 42 ; is the 
 place to which the evil 
 
 spirits (Luke viii. 31) be- 
 sought Christ not to send 
 them, 42 ; its tenants, at the 
 time of the locust-vision, 
 would seem to be the angels 
 that sinned at the deluge, 
 43 ; Tartai-us, is a synonyme 
 for it, 43, note; is a part 
 of Satan s domain, 53 ; its 
 warden is, perhaps, appointed 
 by Satan, 53 ; is the place 
 referred to by St. Paul 
 (Rom. X. 7), and throws light 
 on the meaning of that 
 passage, 54 ; Antichrist as- 
 cends from it, 141, 232; is, 
 in some way, connected with 
 hades, 53, 54. 
 See Abaddon. 
 
 Adam, his fall from his lordship 
 over the world, and Gods 
 provision of another King, 
 169. 
 
 Advent, of Christ, the, for His 
 saints distinct from His 
 coming with them, ] 04, 244, 
 273, 389 ; is the time of His 
 reign, 168 ; blessedness of, 
 179; creation will joy in, 211; 
 is the one hope of every 
 generation of the Church, 274 ; 
 " as a thief," 389. 
 
 See Kinydom, and Eesti- 
 tut ion, 
 
 Ahab, his expedition sgair.et 
 EamothGilead typical of tlie 
 scene described, chap.xvi. 14 j 
 380—388. 
 
406 
 
 INDEX OF NAMES AND MATTERS. 
 
 Angel, an evil, symbolized by 
 a falliug star in cbap. ix. 9 ; 
 40, 193 ; 
 
 ihe, in chap. x. 1, not 
 identical with Clirist, 90 — 92, 
 120, 182. 
 
 An«gels, those mentioned in 
 2 Pet. ii. 4, and Jude (J, con- 
 nected with the locust vision, 
 in chap. ix. 2, 38,42, 2()G ; 
 (he evil, likened to falling 
 stars, 193, 200 j confederated, 
 with the kings of the earth at 
 Annageddon, 393. 
 
 Antichrist, his commercial en- 
 terprise, 27, 2(i8 ; symbolized 
 bv the fiilling star (of Ch. viii 
 lb) 28,40; duration of Jewish 
 oppression iinder, 101, 216, 
 
 237 ; retribution upon, 104, 
 218, 238 ; his votaries 
 punished, 305, 362—402 ; 
 God"s righteous retort upon 
 his votaries, 370 ; his votaries 
 mitated and hardened by 
 judgments, 372 — 375 ; his 
 votaries blaspheme God, 374; 
 is " the man of sin," 127, 
 229, 237 ; comes against 
 Jerusalem, 128, 199 ; breaks 
 faith with the Jews, 130, 
 199 (note), 238; is the beast 
 out of the bottomless pit, 141, 
 232 ; ruin of the holy land 
 under his domination, 179 ; 
 is the power of Dan. viii. 10, 
 193 ; what retards his ap- 
 pearance, 223 ; his ten tribu- 
 tary kings, 225—228; his 
 name of blasphemy, 227, 237, 
 
 238 ; is the Divinely ordained 
 scourge of the Jews, 227, 
 228, 239 ; his resuixection- 
 existence, 230—235, 257; 
 the ditference of origin as- 
 signed to him, in Ch. xiii. and 
 xvii, accounted for, 232 ; will 
 be the impersonating unity 
 of all that men will then 
 esteem, 235,236; will receive 
 
 Divine honours, 235, 236, 
 240, 249 ; is " the Enemy and 
 Avenger," 239; his universal 
 empire, 240; his treachery, 
 248 ; his apjnirent philan- 
 trophy,251; isthe"Leviathau," 
 or " King over all the children 
 of pride," of Job xli, 252 ; 
 his image, 254 ; his " name," 
 " mark," and " the number 
 of his name," all, import 
 the same thing, 265 ; his 
 despotic rule, 267; typified 
 by Balak, 285 ; his occu- 
 pation of Palestine, 363 ; his 
 career, probably, commences 
 at Pergamos, 373 ; revived 
 Babylon the eventual capital 
 of his kingdom, 373. 
 
 ^QeMan of Sin, Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, and Sennacherib. 
 
 Antichristian Faction, the, 
 called " the vine of the earth," 
 328 ; admonished not to 
 abuse the Divine patience, 
 359 ; their dismay, as de- 
 picted by the sixth seal, and 
 their subsequently altered 
 mein, 395 ; their gathering 
 at Armageddon, 392, 398 ; 
 their punishment, 395 — 398 ; 
 the signal for retribution 
 upon them to begin, 101, 109, 
 111, 133, 163, 183—185 ; 
 special predictions against, 
 117 ; the holy city occupied 
 by, 12], 128, 145 ; their 
 hostility to Christ, 173, 176 ; 
 no mitigation of judgments 
 on, 35. 
 
 See Antichrist, Tribes, the 
 ten ; and Jerusalem. 
 
 Apocalypse, the, an argument 
 for the interpretation of it 
 pursued in this work,suggested 
 by a passage from the writings 
 of Michaelis, 3 — 7 ; extra- 
 ordinary interpretation of 
 chap. X. 11. in the early 
 Church, 117, 118 ; viewed as 
 a renewal of the thread of 
 
INDEX OF NAMES AND MATTERS. 
 
 407 
 
 Old Testament propliecy, 1 97 ; 
 its contents are called " the 
 testimony of Jesus Christ," 
 xli— xliv, ( Preface), 210, 220, 
 310; its practical power, 404 ; 
 its usefulness, as lirophecij, 
 to successive generations, 
 from the beginning, xv — xviii. 
 (Preface); some expositors 
 of, unwittingly countenance 
 the speculations of German 
 Neology^ 152, 103, 
 See Patriios. 
 
 Apostles, the twelve, the pecu- 
 liar character of their ministry, 
 300, 301; xxxix., (Prefoce.) 
 See Paul. 
 
 Armageddon, identical with 
 Megiddo, 392, 398. 
 
 Babylon, its fall, under the 
 seventh Trumpet, typified by 
 the fall of Jerico, 13 ; sen- 
 tenced to become " a burnt 
 mountain," 25 ; will be both 
 the centre of attraction to the 
 apostate Jews, and one means 
 of their retribution, 25 ; will 
 be a prolific centre of all 
 iniquity, 25, 85, 115, 116, 
 208, 286, 294, 304, 373, 398 ; 
 the knell of its downfall, 294, 
 301 ; the literal city yet to 
 be revived, 230, 302, 373, 
 398 ; St. John's prediction 
 of its revival, though it had 
 then lost its pristUie grandeur, 
 not incredible, 303 ; is the 
 capital of Antichrist's king- 
 dom, 373 ; the ten tribes will 
 be the chief human agents 
 of its destruction, 383 ; its 
 final jndgment, 398, 399. 
 
 BiRKS, (Rev. T. R.), his ani- 
 madversions on the Author's 
 principles of iuierj)retation, 
 iv — 1., (Preface.) 
 
 "Brethren," those accused by 
 Satan, who, 207. 
 
 Chaos, the earth not originally 
 created in, 401, and note. 
 
 Children, of God, their one- 
 ness of mind with Him, 110, 
 116. 
 
 Christ, The, the constitution 
 of, 167, 172, 241; is the 
 Second Adam, 109; furnishes 
 His Church for her high des- 
 tiny, 170; his Kingship now 
 rejected by the world and the 
 Jews, 173 ; the double his- 
 torical t^-pe of, in David and 
 Solomon, 190 ; is our vigilant 
 Advocate, 209 ; is the anti- 
 typical " first fruits," 288 ; 
 is the example of faith, 310 ; 
 is the Father's ordained 
 Executive, 317 ; is the true 
 " King of Nations," 348 ; His 
 iiTevocable love to His saints, 
 391 ; His " sufferings" and 
 the glory that should follow, 
 xxxi,( Preface); the relation of, 
 only fully developed after His 
 Ascension, xxxvi., (Preface) ; 
 His intercession, 15 ; His 
 preaching to the " spirits in 
 prison," 38 ; His faith, 41 ; 
 His descent " into the deep," 
 54 ; His beneficence con- 
 trasted with the mischief of 
 Satan's agents, 55, 56 ; His 
 blood crying against the 
 Jews, 61 ; His life, as our 
 risen Head, dwells in us, 
 108 ; how a " sword" is said 
 to " proceed out of His 
 mouth," 139; His future 
 reign, 165 — 168,179; eternal 
 dominion predicated of, 167 ; 
 how said to "deliver up the 
 Kingdom" to the Father, 
 167 — 172 ; reveals the Father, 
 173. 
 
 Church, the Penticostal, a 
 gathering exclusively of Jews, 
 289. 
 
 See Saints, of our dispen- 
 sation ; Dispensation, our; 
 Paul; and Testimonij. 
 
408 
 
 INDEX OF KAMES AND MATTERS. 
 
 Churches, the seven, asso- 
 ciation of the martjred . 
 witnesses of, with Christ, in 
 " power over the nations," 
 196; are Jewish gatherings 
 distinct from other r(!mnants 
 of the nation, 20S, 209, 211, 
 220, 239, 24;^ ; are specially 
 referred to by the title of 
 those " who keep the com- 
 mandments of God," 220. 
 
 ConiER, (Thomas,) his near 
 approach to the clue of inter- 
 pretation pursued in this 
 work, in a.d. 1674, 1., li., 
 (Preface.) 
 
 Commerce, the impulse it will 
 receive with the revival of 
 the East, 27. 
 
 Cornelius, the special object 
 of St. Peter's mission to, 
 xxxiii., (Preface.) 
 
 Covenants, the two Jewish 
 contrasted, 183, 184. 
 
 " Covetousness," why called 
 " idolatry," 208. 
 
 Creation, will partake of 
 Eedemption, 180, 181, 211, 
 395, 400 ; beginning of its 
 Redemption, 200 282; the 
 aborifjinal, distinct fi-om the 
 Mosaic, 401 , and note. 
 
 Creature, the, can impart 
 nothing to God, 290; its 
 entire dependence on God, 
 345. 
 
 Daniel, the meaning of " a 
 time" in his prophecy, 130 ; 
 his vision of the four bestial 
 empires unaccomplished, 191, 
 225 ; his record of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar's dream has a 
 still future reference, 220, 
 257. 
 
 Death, why not much dwelt 
 on in the New Testament. 
 312. 
 
 Demons, meaning of the term, 
 82 ; the worship of idols 
 associated with the worship 
 
 of, in Scripture, 81, 82 ; the 
 
 " three unclean Spirits, like 
 
 frogs," are identical with, 380. 
 
 See Invocation of Saints. 
 
 "Desire of all Nations," 
 "the/' (Haggai ii., 7) import 
 of the expression, 174, 175. 
 
 Destroyer, or Apollyon, see 
 Abaddon. 
 
 DioscoRiDES, his account of 
 the effect of the scorpion's 
 sting, 47. 
 
 Dispensation, our, the cha- 
 racter of, ix., X., XXX — xxxiv., 
 (Preface), 197, 198,289,290; 
 terminates in the rapture of the 
 saints, 208 ; why emphatically 
 called " the evil day," 214 ; 
 the Church of, not a mere 
 development of thePentecostal 
 eflfusion, 290; the result of 
 its removal, xxxiii., (Preface) ; 
 how accounted of by God, 
 ix., (Preface), 197, 198; the 
 filling up of it, not discerned 
 by the Old Testament Pro- 
 phets, xxxi.,xxxii., (Preface) ; 
 the special Gospel of, 301. 
 See Fanl ; Saints of our 
 dispensation ; and Moses. 
 
 Earth, the, not to be annihi- 
 lated, 180; how spoken of 
 by St. Peter as to be " burnt 
 up," 181 ; the last develop- 
 ment of Satan's rage on, 213; 
 the nciv, the millennial 
 reign preliminary to, 400. 
 See Creation, and Chaos. 
 
 Earthquake, the, under the 
 sixth seal and seventh vial, 
 not the same as that under 
 the sixth Trumpet, 1 54 ; of 
 the seventh vial and sixth 
 seal, the same, 395, 399 ; of 
 the seventh vial, its efiects, 
 399, 400. 
 
 Elijah, his ministry in the 
 latter days, 124, 132, 220; 
 his sojourn in the wilderness 
 typical, 199, 202. 
 
INDEX OF NA.MES AXD MATTERS. 
 
 409 
 
 Enoch, a type of tlie Church, 
 •244. 
 
 EsDBAS, the apocryphal honk of, 
 its testimony to the captivity, 
 and future return of the teu 
 tribes, 377. 
 
 Euphrates, the, mentioned in 
 chap. xvi. 12, is the literal 
 river, 375. 
 
 Evil, the last form of Satanic, 
 now casts its shadow before, 
 213, 244, 268. 
 
 EzEKiEL, alleged fulfilment of 
 his 390 days' siege erroneous, 
 65—08, 77. 
 
 Faith, an examp''e of, 173. 
 
 Frogs, see Demons. 
 
 Garmexts, the import of the 
 phrase "keeping" them, 39(>, 
 
 Genesis, cliap. i. ] , in-edicates 
 not an inchoate, but complete 
 work of God, 401. 
 
 Gentiles, see Nations. 
 
 Geologists, their allegations 
 concerning the eaith's anti- 
 quity not discordant with the 
 Mosaic record, 401 {note) 
 
 " Give Glory to God." See 
 God and Repentance. 
 
 God, His own rest, 214; will 
 not brook a divided service, 
 205 ; is s<;//-sufficient, and 
 ^3t//- sufficient, 290 ; His title 
 of "Lord God Almighty," 
 344; His loays, what, 346; 
 import of His title, "oirtos," 
 351,309; His judicial wrath 
 under the seven. vials, sym- 
 bolized, 357, 358 ; His 
 inflexible resolve to pour 
 out the wrath of the seven 
 vials symbohzed, 358 ; His 
 attributes vindicated by His 
 judgments, 109, 340, 368, 
 370, 371; His work of 
 Creation complete at first, 
 401 ; an illustration of the 
 truth, that He hears and 
 answers prayer, 10 ; His 
 iong suffering exhibited, 37. 
 
 38 ; the seal of, on the 
 forehead, 46 ; our constant 
 dependence upon, 18 ; His 
 everlasting love, 88, 242 ; 
 distinguished from idols, 99, 
 298 ; His present forbearance 
 a mystery, 101; His feelings 
 harmonized in the Scriptures, 
 107; His being, 171; gives 
 a people to Christ, 169, 170; 
 is worsliipped, as manifested 
 in the Christ, J 72, 173 ; 
 "give glory to," import of 
 tlie phrase, 101, 162, 290, 
 373. 
 
 See Jehovah. 
 
 Goel, Christ acting as for 
 Israel, 93, 179, 309. 
 
 " Gospel," " the everlasting," 
 why so called, 295 ; proclaimed 
 by angelic agency, 294, 296 ; 
 is distinct from that now to 
 to be preached, 297 — 301. 
 
 Hail, its extraordinary size, 
 illustrated from Josh. x. 11, 
 402, 
 
 Hand, an uplifted, the custom, 
 in ancient times, to swear 
 with, 97—99. 
 
 Harpers, the, in chap, xiv., 
 are the martyred ones under 
 the Antichrist, 280 — 285. 
 
 Harvest, the. Bishop Horsley's 
 view of the figure of, in 
 Scripture, 325. 
 
 Heavens, the, said to rejoice 
 in Christ's advent, 213. 
 See Eartii. 
 
 Hell, or Hades and Des- 
 truction, what are the, 
 probably, equivalent terms 
 in the Neio Testament, 53, 
 54. 
 
 See Abaddon. 
 
 Holy Ghost, The, dwelling 
 in the believer, causes him 
 to long for the presence of 
 Christ, 274. 
 
 Idolatry, will be one of the 
 prevailing sins of the Jews, 
 
410 
 
 INDEX OF XAMES AND MATTERS. 
 
 on tlieir next return to their 
 land, 80, 90, 297, 298 ; will 
 be exhibited in the worship 
 of Antichrist's image, 25-1 ; 
 the vanity of, manifested, 372. 
 See Demons. 
 
 Image, the, of Antichrist, see 
 Idolatry. 
 
 IxcENSE, symbolical of Christ's 
 Intercession, 15, 16. 
 
 Inheritance, man's, a symbol 
 of its speedy redemption, 92, 
 93. 
 
 Inspiration, the, of Scripture, 
 God employs in, not only the 
 hnman pen, but the heart 
 and feelings, 107—100. 
 
 Invocation of Saints, the 
 Moniish, not identical with 
 the Demon worship branded 
 in Scripture, 82. 
 See Demons. 
 
 Israel, their future history as 
 instructive to us as the past, 
 87, 88 ; future subordination 
 of the nations to, 102; their 
 px'esent blindness, 197; some 
 points of their past history 
 typical of their future expe- 
 rience, 198, 190, 215 ; called 
 God's " first-born," 288 ; their 
 complete redemption cele- 
 brated, 396; are the centre 
 of all prophecy, and why 
 so, xxvii. — XXX. (Preface); 
 are the " notion" spoken of 
 in Matt, xxi., 43, xxxiv. 
 (Preface); then- future bles- 
 sings, 317 ; their future 
 prowess, 9 ; will discomfit 
 the Antichristian faction, 14; 
 will be severely chastened, 
 14. 
 
 James, the Epistle of, its future 
 aspect, 290. 
 
 Jehovah, in what sense God 
 is said not to have been 
 known to the Patriarchs by 
 this name, 345, 
 
 Jericho, the tjT)ical signi- 
 fication of its overthrow, 12, 
 13 , reference is made to its 
 capture in 1 Cor. xv, 51, 52, 
 and 1 Thess. iv. 10, 104, 165. 
 
 Jerusalem, how compared to 
 Sodom, 85 ; besieged, and 
 occupied by the Antichristian 
 hosts, 65— 68, 120, 121, 128, 
 140; siege of, by the Romans, 
 a typical rehearsal of the 
 future, 128 ; why called 
 " Ariel," by Isaiali, 155 ; the 
 earthquake of, 150 — 161; its 
 Temple, " the house of prayer 
 for all people," 352; is "the 
 great city" of the seventh 
 vial, 397; the fall of its 
 "tenth part," 156, 398; the 
 fall of its " third part," 398 ; 
 the " neiv" 171. 
 
 Jews, the, their return to their 
 laud in self-sufficiency, 157; 
 faith only can appreciate their 
 promised glory, 188 ; the 
 faithful remnant of, at Christ's 
 first advent, 189 ; the root of 
 Satan's enmity to, 188 — 190 ; 
 symbol of, as a nation, 188 ; 
 mitigation of judgments on, 
 35. 
 
 See Jews, the Aiwstate ; 
 Israel ; Remnants ; and 
 Trihesy the ten. 
 The apostate, in " the Lord's 
 Day," judgments upon, under 
 six of the seven trumpets, 8, 
 14, 20, 25, 26, 28, 30, 31, 
 32 — 35 ; their predicted evil 
 state, 30, 31 ; God's merciful 
 warning to, 37, 38 ; judgments 
 upon those of them who shall 
 not have returned to their 
 land, 48 ; their persistence in 
 rebellion, in spite of judg- 
 ments, 79 — 88; their worship 
 of Antichrist, 235, 236, 249, 
 257, 320 ; their idolatry after 
 their return to their land, 
 255, 261 ; will be purged 
 
INDEX OF NAMES AND MATTERS. 
 
 411 
 
 out from among the faithful 
 by judgments, 14, 320—323. 
 Joel, the second chapter of, 
 his prophecy is parallel with 
 the vision of the locusts, 
 and Euphrateau horsemen, 
 72—74. 
 Judgments, the, upoti apostate 
 Jews, denoted by six of the 
 trumpets, 8 — 87; their order, 
 according to the successive 
 gradations in Creation, 27 ; 
 interval between, an admo- 
 nition to repent, 35 — 39 ; 
 
 upon the Antichristian Fac- 
 tion, brought down by the 
 "two witnesses," 139; denoted 
 by the out-pouring of tlie 
 vials, 3G2— 402 ; will vin- 
 dicate God's character, 368 — 
 370. 
 
 Kingdom, the, how said to be 
 delivered up to the Father 
 by Christ, 167—172; 
 
 of Christ, its blessedness, 
 16o — 167 ; Satan's form of 
 opposition to, 191, 192, 228, 
 229 ; established on earth, 
 207, 298 ; is not merely 
 spiritual and invisible in its 
 nature, 166. 
 
 See Advent iiVLd Restitution. 
 
 Kings, the confederate, of the 
 Antichristian faction, gather- 
 ed, by the agency of wicked 
 spuits, in opposition to God, 
 393. 
 
 See Antichristian Faction. 
 
 <*Lamb," "The," the virtue of 
 His "blood," 209,210, 350; 
 " the book of life of," 241 ; 
 " song" of, 343. 
 
 Lamubrt, p., his work on 
 Prophecy quoted in support 
 of the view that Antichrist 
 will rise again, after having 
 been put to death, 233, 234. 
 
 Law, the Mosaic, see Moses. 
 
 Lion, the roar of the. Scriptural 
 import of the metaphor, 
 93—95. 
 
 Locusts, why those in the 
 vision (chap. ix. 3) cannot be 
 natural, 45, 46. 
 
 " Lord's Day," " The," import 
 of the term, xliv — xlvii. 
 (Preface); the events of, will 
 meet the last great develop- 
 ment of Satanic rage against 
 the cause of Christ,"213, 214. 
 
 Man of Sin, the, will sit in the 
 literal Temple of .Jerusalem, 
 127, 241, 249 ; is Satan's 
 instrument, 229. 
 
 Martyrs, the, under the fifth 
 seal, their number completed, 
 and their resurrection, 177. 
 See Harpers. 
 
 Megiddo, see Annageddon. 
 
 Michael, the Archangel, his 
 mission in behalf of the 
 Jews, 204, 223. 
 
 Michaelis, see Apocalypse. 
 
 Millennium, the, Satan's 
 mimicry of, in Antichrist's 
 reign, 234 — 237 ; one feature 
 of, 352. 
 
 Minister, the Christian, his 
 special message now, 297 ; 
 what is not his present 
 message, 299 ; a lesson for, 
 108—110. 
 See Paul. 
 
 Miracles, are not, in them- 
 selves, tests of truth, but test 
 the real state of the heart, 
 Godward, 252 — 254. 
 
 Moses, the law of, not finally 
 abrogated, 123, 124, 220 ; is 
 interrupted during the present 
 dispensation, 125, 126, 221. 
 See Dispensatio)t, oiu*. 
 
 Mountain, the, " burning," in 
 chap. viii. 1, probable allusion 
 to in Matt. (xxi. 22), 24, 25 ; 
 is an emblem of doomed 
 Babylon, 26. 
 
 " Mystery," " the," " of God,'' 
 101,102,111,338,394; 
 " of iniquity," 223 ; 
 the special, preached by 
 Paul, see Paul. 
 
41^ 
 
 INDEX OF NAMES AND MATTERS. 
 
 Nations, tlie, their present 
 anarchy prepares the way for 
 Antichrist's tyranny, 244 ; 
 Israel's glory, the time of 
 their hliss, 347, 350 ; " learn 
 righteousness," by God's judg- 
 ments, 352; as such, to be 
 converted by the instru- 
 mentality of Israel, xxix., 
 (Preface)! certain of, men- 
 tioned as God's " mighty 
 ones," Isaiah xiii. 3 — 5, 384. 
 See Cornelius and Israel. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar, was a type 
 of Antichrist, 240 ; his image 
 a type of Antichrist's, 271. 
 
 Neologians, the German, see 
 Apocalypse. 
 
 Number, the, "006," import 
 of, 270. 
 
 Oath, see Hand. 
 
 Olives, the Mount of, its future 
 cleaving in twain, according 
 to Zech. (xiv, 4,) 398 
 
 Patmos, St. John went there, 
 in order to receive the 
 Apocalyptic vision, xli — xliv. 
 (Preface.) 
 
 Parable, of the relapsed de- 
 moniac interpreted, 80 ; of the 
 sheep and the goats, a key 
 to understand it, 200, and 
 note; of the leaven, \m\}Ovt of, 
 302 ; of the tares, expounded, 
 318—320; of the marriage 
 feast, an allusion to, 390. 
 
 Paul, the Apostle, the tenor of 
 his ministry, as recorded in 
 the Acts, distinct from the 
 subject matter of his teaching 
 in his Epistles, 299—301 ; the 
 special " mystery" preached 
 by, xxxii., xxxviii — xl. (Pre- 
 face), 290, 319; & personal 
 appearance of our Lord to liim 
 after that at his conversion, 
 xxxvi — xli. 
 
 Plagues, the JSgyjMan, form 
 precedents for the literal 
 interpretation of some of the 
 
 trumpet-yisions, 19, 20, 22, 
 20j27, 34,44; 
 
 incidents parallel to, under 
 the vial'\is\ons, 304, 365, 
 307, 309, 372, 374. 
 
 Pontiff, the Roman, may be 
 rei)resented by the " beast 
 coming up out of the earth," 
 240. 
 
 Prophecy, all, its chief use 
 to the Church f vi — xviii. 
 (Preface); its great burden, 
 110 ; called " the word of the 
 Lamb's testimony," 210 ; 
 
 that of the Old Testa- 
 ment, its scope, XXV — xxxvi. 
 (Preface.) 
 
 Prophet, the false, his career, 
 240—274; typified by Balaam, 
 285. 
 
 Prophets, the false, of the 
 
 latter days, 388; see Demons; 
 
 of the Old Testament, 
 
 import of their eating their 
 
 rolls of propjhecy, 105 — 110. 
 
 See Dispensation, our. 
 
 Psalm, the second, not fulfilled 
 at the first Advent, 173, 174. 
 
 Psalms, the, some of, are 
 utterances prepared for the 
 faithful Jewish Remnants, 
 in the latter day, 24, 57 — 00. 
 
 Punishment, future, its eter- 
 nity, 307. 
 
 Religion, true, how it will be 
 universally diffused, 100, 107. 
 
 Remnants, the various faithful 
 Jewish, in " the Lord's Day," 
 sigh and cry for the abomi- 
 nations then done, 10, 34, 
 203 ; the faith of, under 
 calamity, 21. 209; their 
 triumph in God, 24, 210; 
 are the instruments of God's 
 penal justice upon apostates, 
 24, 280 ; their deliverance 
 from Antichrist, 20, 29, 93, 
 101—104, 120; prayers of, 
 10, 10, 57—00, 99, 100; ai-e 
 the nucleus of the future 
 
INDEX OF NAMES AND MATTERS. 
 
 413 
 
 nation, 103, 196 ; are the 
 worshippers in the Temple 
 when measured, 123 ; a tem- 
 porary check to their hope, 
 UO, 150 ; then- reward, 178 ; 
 tlieir song of triumph, 17(5 ; 
 persecuted by Antichrist, 199, 
 203, 239, 259 ; asylum pro- 
 vided for some of, by God, 
 200, 216 ; some of, sus- 
 tained by miracles as of old, 
 202 ; flight of those of, re- 
 presented by " the woman 
 clothed with the sun," into 
 the wilderness, 196—203 ; 
 some of, unable to fly, 203 ; 
 are God's witnesses on earth, 
 after the GeutUe failure, 208, 
 309 ; overcome Satan and 
 Antichrist, 209, 239 ; some 
 of, lielped in flight by super- 
 natural aid, 215 ; duration of 
 the sojourn of those who con- 
 stitute " the woman," in the 
 wilderness, 203, 216; their 
 consolation under the tyranny 
 of Antichrist, 240, 298, 302, 
 309, 311 ; one company of, 
 represented by " the 144,000," 
 275—292 ; are " the children 
 of the kingdom ;" blessed 
 death of some of, 31 1 ; are the 
 *' elect" in the parable of the 
 tares, 323, 324; the resur- 
 rection glory of certain of, 
 340; their sympathy with God 
 in His judgments, 368 ; the 
 note of combined warning 
 and comfort to, 389. 
 
 See Churches, the seven, 
 and Temple. 
 
 Repentance, a syuonyme for 
 it, in this book, 161, 297 ; 
 future torments, or mere 
 punishment, are ineflicacious 
 to produce it, 373, 375, 403. 
 
 *' Restitution, of all thiiu/s," 
 " the times- of," God's ways 
 will then be vindicated, 101, 
 102 ; will be introduced by 
 
 Christ's advent, 289, 400. 
 See Advent and Kingdom. 
 
 REVBLATloy, the, See Apoca- 
 lypse. 
 
 ^'Rh/hfeous man from the East, 
 the," mentioned Isaiah xli. 2, 
 who is meant, 379 — 383. 
 
 Saints, their election and final 
 perseverance are only abused 
 when misunderstood, 88 ; in 
 what their future judgment 
 will consist, 177; 
 
 those of our dispensation, 
 their special hope, 1, 2, Jo, 
 244, 389, 391 ; they are 
 privileged to participate in 
 God's counsels, 2, 214 ; are 
 the friends of God, 2 ; their 
 resurrection not that of the 
 seventh trumpet, J63 — 165, 
 176 — 179 ; their career of 
 judgment, with Christ, after 
 their rapture.. 1 64 ; their sym- 
 pathy with God's revealed pur- 
 poses, 165 ; their reign in the 
 Kingdom, 166, 349 ; are a 
 royal priesthood, 170, 171, 
 210; their present warfare 
 with Satan, 204, 223 ; their 
 translation, 205 ; their tri- 
 umphant hymn, 207 ; Satan 
 is their accuser noiv, 208 ; 
 are indebted for everything 
 to the Lamb's blood, 210, 
 2 14 ; are those who tabernacle 
 in the heaven, 212, 238 ; are 
 "the salt of the eai-th," 213; 
 are gathered to Jesus before 
 "the Lord's Day" sets in, 
 
 213, 389; should watch 
 against the last form of evil, 
 as it now works, i)i principle, 
 
 214, 244, 391 ; should realize 
 Christ's coming as always 
 imminent, 214, 244, 391 ; are 
 blasphemed by Antichrist, 
 239 ; " chosen in the Christ 
 before the foundation of the 
 world," 241 ; must not love 
 the world, 269; are not 
 
414 
 
 INDEX OF NAMES AND MATTERS. 
 
 called to wait for ibe Antichrist, 
 273, 403; death is not their 
 hope, and why, 312 ; are not 
 described in the harvest- 
 scene of Chap, xiv., or, in the 
 parable of the tares, 319, 
 323 ; are not subjects in the 
 kingdom, but "joint-heirs" 
 with the King, 109—172, 
 349, 391 ; " shall judge the 
 world," 356 ; tlie emphatic 
 call upon them to " watch," 
 391 ; the generous appeal of 
 the Holy Spirit, in the word, 
 to them, 391 ; their exemption 
 from the latter day tribulation, 
 and the reason of it, 403, 
 and note ; should vindicate 
 the practical power of the 
 Apocalypse, 403, 404; their 
 relation to the nations of the 
 earth, xxix, (Preface.) 
 See Enoch. 
 Satan, his coming expulsion 
 from the heavens, eaimests of, 
 40, 41 ; he cannot exercise 
 power without God's permis- 
 sion, 45, 40 ; his power of 
 death, 53 ; there is a lack of 
 faithful testimony against his 
 j)resent evil agency, 148 ; 
 symbolized by the " great red 
 dragon," 191, 225, 220, 337 ; 
 his last form of opposition to 
 the kingdom of God, 192, 
 222 — 224 ; his lying in wait 
 for the woman's seed, 194 ; 
 his hatred transferred to the 
 typical ivoman, 196,203, 215, 
 217 ; his open violence against 
 two Jewish remnants, 219, 
 220 ; his ejection from the 
 heavens, 203—212 ; his pre- 
 sent abode in the heavens, 
 204 ; is " the accuser of the 
 brethren," 207 ; his rage, when 
 cast out into the earth, 21 3 ; 
 why he is called " serpent," 
 217, 219 ; is " the god of 
 this world," 192, 226; his 
 
 mimicry of the gi'eat mystery 
 of godliness, 228, 232 ; his 
 " tbi-one," 373 ; his awful 
 mimicry of the blessed Trinitv, 
 235, 240, 271, 380; his or- 
 ganized rebellion against God 
 at the second Advent, 385. 
 See Jews, the. 
 
 ScRiPTUBEs, The Holy, see 
 Word of God, and Inspi- 
 ration. 
 
 Seal, the fourth, the detail of, 
 under the first trumpet, 20, 
 22; 
 
 the sixth, relates to the 
 period just prior to the appear- 
 ing of the Lord in the clouds 
 of heaven, 154; 
 
 the seventh, embraces the 
 details of the six former seals, 
 and both introduces and cam- 
 prises the visions of the 
 trumpets and vials, 8 ; its 
 exact burden contained under 
 the seventh trumpet and 
 seventh vial, 9. 
 See Seals. 
 
 Seals, the six first, contain a 
 broad outline of the Divine 
 visitations in the coming day 
 of wrath, 7; the visitations 
 described under them, are 
 detailed under the seventh 
 seal, in their bearing upon the 
 apostate Jews and oppressing 
 Gentiles, 8 ; are a condensed 
 parallel of the trumpets and 
 vials, 360. 
 
 QeeVials,Visions, huASeal, 
 the seventh. 
 
 Sennacherib, a type of Anti- 
 christ, 237. 
 
 *' Sign of the Son of Man," 
 probable import of it, 310. 
 
 Song, the new, of the harpers, 
 what, 280. 
 
 Sorcery, a feature of JeAvish 
 apostacy, in the latter day, 84. 
 
 Spirits, certain evil, are sym- 
 bolized by the locusts, 44 — 56, 
 70; 
 
INDEX OF NAMES AND MATTERS. 
 
 415 
 
 Spirits, " the three unclean, like 
 frogs" see Demons ; 
 
 the, "in prison," mentioned 
 1 Peter iii., 19, 20, 38. 
 " Spiritually called Sodom," 
 import of the phrase, 30, 31, 
 143. 
 Star, the falling, under the 
 third trumpet, is to be taken 
 literally, whUe, also, a sjinbol 
 of the denounced Antichrist, 
 28; 
 
 that, und er the fifth trumpet, 
 represents a past transaction, 
 and is a symbol of one of 
 Satan's satellites, 40 — 42, 
 53, 53. 
 
 See Abaddon. 
 Tabernacle, the Mosaic, see 
 
 Temple, the Jewish. 
 "Tarshish," "the ships of," 
 
 28 ; see Commerce. 
 Temple, the word never used, 
 in the New Testament, with 
 the article, to denote the 
 Christian Church, 126 ; 
 
 the Jewish, measured for 
 preservation, 121 ; will be the 
 sanctuary of afaithful remnant, 
 123 ; is that in which " the 
 man of sin" is to sit, 127 ; 
 was the pattern of heavenly 
 places, 182 ; 
 
 the dwelling-place of the 
 Divine Majesty, 181, 182. 
 Testimony, the standard of the 
 Church's now, 301 ; faithful, 
 hated by the world, 147, 148. 
 TwEfifiAi.oiniA.'ss,th€ 2nd Ejnstle 
 to the, chap. ii. compared with 
 chap. xiii. of this book, 222 — 
 224, 228,229, 237, 238, 241, 
 255, 274 ; 
 
 the Jst Epistle to the, ch. v., 
 how to understand the word 
 " wake" in ver. 9, 10 ; 391. 
 Thousand, the 144, an earthly 
 company, 278, 284, 292; 
 identical with the sealed in 
 chap, vii, 278 ; how 7tot of 
 
 the earth, 284 ; how typified 
 in the Old Testament, 285 ; 
 resist the allurements of 
 Babylon, 28G ; their dignity as 
 " the first-fruits," what, 288 ; 
 perhaps, the exact antitype of 
 the wave-loaves. Lev. xxiii., 
 289 ; perhaps, specially noted 
 in Ps. xxiv., 291 ; typified by 
 Daniel, 292; are a special 
 election from the twelve 
 tribes, 288, 290. 
 
 Throne, of Christ, tlie, 173. 
 
 " Times," " the signs of the," 
 
 should rouse the Church, 214. 
 
 " and seasons" belong to 
 
 Jewish hope, xxxiv — xxxvi., 
 
 (Preface.) 
 
 Tradition, its corrupting effect 
 upon Divine truth, 118. 
 
 Treachery, in the betrayal of 
 friends, a characteristic of the 
 future Jewish apostacy, 83. 
 
 Tribes, the ten, are " the kings 
 of the east," chap. xvi. 12, 
 376 — 378 ; are "the righteous 
 man" mentioned Isa. xli. 2, 3, 
 378 — 383 ; are God's " sanc- 
 tified ones," Isa. xiii. 3 — 5, 
 384 ; are God's executive 
 in treading down the Anti- 
 christian faction, 377, 381, 
 483 ; See Esdras. 
 
 the 144,000 sealed out of 
 the twelve, are identical with 
 the 144,000, with the Lamb 
 on Mount Sion, 278; See 
 Thousand. 
 
 Trinity, the Divine, 171 ; 
 awful mimicry of, by Satan, 
 335, 240, 271, 380. 
 
 Trumpet, the seventh, ushers 
 in the Divine vengeance 
 under the vials, 13, 103. 
 See Vials, and Visions. 
 
 Trumpets, the seven, their 
 connexion with the seventh 
 seal, 8 ; their design illus- 
 trated from the Divinely 
 enjoined use of trumpets 
 
416 
 
 INDEX OF NAMIiS AND MATTEHS. 
 
 among the Jews, 11 — 14; 
 their judicial peels, how 
 evoked, J 6. 
 
 See Seal, the seventh, 
 Vials, and Visiom. 
 
 Vials, the seven, their relation 
 to the Trumpet, and Seal 
 Visions, 7—9, 301, 366, 395, 
 403. 
 
 See Seal; Seals; Trumpet, 
 the seventh; Trumpets; and 
 Visions, 
 
 Vintage, the, see Harvest. 
 
 Visions, the, of this book, from 
 chap, xi ,19 ; xv. 4, inclusive, 
 are a prelude to the pouring 
 out of the vials, 187, 275, 
 315, 835, 354. 
 See Vials. 
 
 ViTRiNGA, the opinions of 
 Michaelis as to his historical 
 knowledge, 5. 
 
 Voice, the, " from the four 
 horns of the golden altar," 
 indicates that Israel's great 
 national sin is still uncan- 
 celled, 57—61. 
 
 " Wine of the wrath of God 
 poured out without mixture," 
 (chap. xiv. 10.) and, "the 
 wine is full of mixture," 
 
 (Psalm Ixxv. H.) no incon- 
 sistency in these statements, 
 305—307. 
 
 "Witnesses," God's "two," 
 24, 113, 114, 121, 128, 130— 
 153, 216,238, 239,257,398. 
 
 Word of God, the, may be 
 suitably described as " the 
 word of Christ's testimony," 
 210. 
 
 See Inspiration, and Pro- 
 phecy. 
 
 " World," "/romtlie foundation 
 of the," (chap. xiii. 8.) and, 
 " before the foundation of 
 the," (John xvii. 5, 24. 
 Ephes. i. 4.) the distinction 
 between these expressions, 
 241, 242. 
 
 Worship, see Antichrist, Idol- 
 atry, Demons, and God. 
 
 Year Day, the theory of the, 
 a plausible argument for it, 
 noticed, 134—136. 
 
 Zechariah, his prophecy has 
 been called a " little Apoca- 
 lypse," 92 ; its resemblance 
 to the "little book" of the 
 Apocalypse, 92, 110-116, 
 137, 138, 243, 261, 302, 398. 
 
INDEX OF TEXTS 
 
 IFERRED TO, AND OCCASIONALLY EXPLAINED AND 
 ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 Paoe. 
 
 Genesis i. 1,2 400,401 
 
 V. 24 244 
 
 vi. 4 159 
 
 vii. 22 149 
 
 X. 10 llo 
 
 xiv 379 
 
 — 92 97 
 
 XV. 6, 7 34o 
 
 — 18 375 
 
 xviii. 17 2 
 
 xxxvii. 9, 10 188 
 
 xli. 32 302 
 
 Exodus iv. 22 - . . 288 
 
 V. 20, 21 390 
 
 vi. 1—3 345 
 
 — 3 34G 
 
 vii. 5 340 
 
 — 19—21 23 
 
 — 20 141, 367 
 
 — 21 27,369 
 
 — 24 369 
 
 ix. 10 17 
 
 — 11 364 
 
 — 23, 24 20 
 
 — 24, 25 402 
 
 X. 15 44 
 
 — 22 34 
 
 — 22, 23 374 
 
 xiv. 21 375 
 
 — 24 358 
 
 XV 343, 347 
 
 — 3, 11 236 
 
 — 11 344 
 
 — 14, 1 5 350 
 
 — 17, 18 342 
 
 — 23 30 
 
 xvi. 34 354 
 
 Page. 
 
 Exodns xix. 4 210 
 
 — 6 378 
 
 — 6 (Preface) xxxiv 
 
 — 16 357 
 
 — 18 357 
 
 xxiv. 17 357 
 
 XXV. 40 354 
 
 xxviii. 36 263 
 
 xxxii. 20 25 
 
 31—33.... 358 
 
 xxxiii. 7 354 
 
 9—12 .... 358 
 
 Lev. iv. 7, 18 60 
 
 — 13—18 183 
 
 — 25, 34 60 
 
 xi. 45 263 
 
 xvi. 4 355 
 
 — 18 60 
 
 — 23, 24 355 
 
 — 27 331 
 
 xxiii. 10, 11 289 
 
 15—17 . . 289, 290 
 
 xxvi. 21 338 
 
 28 79 
 
 xxvii. 26, 27 288 
 
 Num. iii. 13 288 
 
 V. 18 32 
 
 X 11 
 
 xvi. 2 160 
 
 — 6,39 • . 15 
 
 — 31—33 219 
 
 — 35 1.39 
 
 — 42 357 
 
 — 46 16 
 
 xxxi. . , 285 
 
 Deut. i. 7 375 
 
418 
 
 INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Deut. iii. 2G— 28 343 
 
 xi. 12 90 
 
 xiii. 1—3 253 
 
 xix. lo 131 
 
 xxviii. 20 30 
 
 27, 3o 305 
 
 29 34 
 
 35 48 
 
 xxxii 342 
 
 4 347 
 
 21, (Preface) xxxiii 
 
 31—33 329 
 
 34 97 
 
 35, 36, 40—43 97 
 
 43 176 
 
 xxxiv. 5 343 
 
 Joshua i. 4 375 
 
 iii. 13—17 183 
 
 — 15, 10 375 
 
 vi 183 
 
 — 20 13, 105 
 
 vii. 19 102 
 
 X. ] 1 402 
 
 — 29, 43 287 
 
 Judges i. 7 370 
 
 iv. 9 50 
 
 — 14 392 
 
 V. 19 392 
 
 — 3] 324,393 
 
 ix. 54 50 
 
 xvi. 23, 24 140 
 
 1 Sam. ii. 25 375 
 
 iv. 22 183 
 
 2 Sam. viii. 2 123 
 
 1 Kings vii. 23 339 
 
 xiii 145 
 
 — 2 371 
 
 xvii. 1 140 
 
 xviii. 5 32 
 
 31—38 133 
 
 - 38 251 
 
 xxi. 27 1 30 
 
 xxii. 13 148 
 
 2 Kings i. 10—12 139, 250 
 
 ii. 11 152 
 
 xiii. 20, 21 149 
 
 xviii. 11 376 
 
 xix. 1, 2 136 
 
 I Uliron. xxi. 16 130 
 
 xxviii. 12—19 . . 354 
 
 Page, 
 
 2 Chron. ix. 21 28 
 
 xviii. 18—22 . . 388 
 
 XXV. 16 375 
 
 xxxii. 6 ] 44 
 
 Nehemiali vii. 4 143 
 
 viii. 10, 12 147 
 
 xi. 1,18 128 
 
 Esther iv. 1 136 
 
 ix. 19 147 
 
 Job i. 6—12 208 
 
 — 12 45 
 
 — 15—17 74 
 
 — 10 251 
 
 xvi. 15 J30 
 
 xxvi. 53 
 
 xxviii. 22 53 
 
 xxix. 21 9 
 
 xxxiv. 12 53 
 
 xxxviii. 7 180 
 
 xxxix. 20—24 49 
 
 xli 230 
 
 xli. 22 252 
 
 Psalm i. 5 323 
 
 ii 281 
 
 — 1—3 173 
 
 — 4—6 176 
 
 — 6 277 
 
 — 8,9 196 
 
 — 9—12 3.59 
 
 vii. 9 58 
 
 viii. 2 239 
 
 ix. 10 340 
 
 X. 1,2, 12, 15 .... 58 
 
 — 18 229, 328 
 
 xi. 4 181 
 
 — 307 
 
 XV. 1,2 292 
 
 xviii. 7, 15, 10, 19 . . 396 
 
 10 310 
 
 12 185 
 
 xxi. 3 310 
 
 9 322 
 
 xxii. 27 106, 352 
 
 27, 28 350 
 
 28 167 
 
 xxiv. 3,4 291 
 
 xxxiv. 7, 56 
 
 xliii. i 58 
 
 xliv. 10 239 
 
 22 243,309 
 
INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 419 
 
 Page. 
 
 Psalm xliv. 23,20 08 
 
 xlv. 16 378 
 
 xlvi. 1— 3 24 
 
 0,7 170 
 
 xlvii.2— 4 348 
 
 xlviii 184 
 
 1. 1—6 104 
 
 — 18 80 
 
 Iv. 2 248 
 
 — 6,7 203 
 
 — 20, 21 291 
 
 Iviii. 9 322 
 
 10,11 308 
 
 Ixviii 287 
 
 5 104 
 
 Ixix. 1— 4 217 
 
 Ixxii. 8 93 
 
 Ixxiv. 10,11,21— 23 58 
 
 Ixxv. 8 306 
 
 Ixxvi. 7—9 10 
 
 Ixxvii. 19 346 
 
 Ixxviii. 49 62 
 
 Ixxix.l— 3 142 
 
 3 309 
 
 lxxxiii.6 202 
 
 13— J 8 .. 59 
 
 lxxx^d. 9 351 
 
 Ixxxviii. 11 53 
 
 17 218 
 
 Ixxxix. 25 93 
 
 35 263 
 
 xc. 11 357 
 
 xcii. 5, 6 340 
 
 xciv. 1 — 7 59 
 
 xc\-i 282 
 
 5 298 
 
 11—13.. 179,212 
 
 xcvii. 7 298 
 
 xcviii. 1,2 282 
 
 1—3 347 
 
 3 167 
 
 C.3— 5 347 
 
 ciii. 7 340 
 
 civ. 3 310 
 
 — 21 93 
 
 cv. 0—10 . . .- 347 
 
 — 29 141 
 
 cvii 385 
 
 cxv. 12, 13 179 
 
 cxvi. 15 369 
 
 Page. 
 
 Psalm cxix 126 189 
 
 cxxiv.l— 4 218 
 
 cxli.2 ]5 
 
 cxlv 369 
 
 11—13 .... 297 
 
 cxlix. 1— 9 283 
 
 Prov. i. 21 144 
 
 vi. 16—19 271 
 
 xiii. 12 389 
 
 XV. 11 53 
 
 xxvii. 20 53 
 
 XXX. 27 52 
 
 Ecclesiastes vii. 6 321 
 
 Song of Solomon vi. 10 . . 188 
 
 Isaiah i. fPreface) xlv 
 
 — 9, 10 143 
 
 — 12 129 
 
 — 15 83 
 
 — 21 83 
 
 — 23 86 
 
 ii. 2 (Preface) .... xviii 
 
 — 3 399 
 
 Q Q1 
 
 — 15.*.*!.*.*.' 158,398 
 
 — 16 28 
 
 iii. 1—3 101 
 
 — 24 70 
 
 iv. 1 100 
 
 — 3,4 322 
 
 — 4 70 
 
 V. 7 327 
 
 — 20 81 
 
 — 20—30 71 
 
 vi 358 
 
 — 1—5 (Preface) xlvi 
 
 vii. 14 195 
 
 viii. 7, 8 02 
 
 — 19 84 
 
 ix. 6 1 95 
 
 — 6 (Preface) .... xlv 
 
 — 6, 7 189 
 
 X. 4 61 
 
 — 28—31 (Preface) xlv 
 xi. 4 139 
 
 — 12, 13 385 
 
 — 14 202 
 
 — 15,16 370 
 
 xiji. 3—5 384 
 
 — 39 303,399 
 
 xiv 236 
 
420 
 
 INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 Page. 
 Isaiah xiv .4 373 
 
 — J2 28 
 
 — 31 63 
 
 XV. 6 21 
 
 xvi. 3, 4 201 
 
 xvii. 5, 11 325 
 
 xix. 1 31G 
 
 XX. 2 137 
 
 xxi. 14, 15 200 
 
 xxiv. 10, 12, 19, 20 156 
 
 21, 22 394 
 
 XXV. 10 202 
 
 XX vi. 2 (Preface) . , xxxiv 
 
 9 no 
 
 9—11 353 
 
 10 102 
 
 17 149,150 
 
 21 83 
 
 xxix. 1—6 155 
 
 6 185 
 
 xxxiii. 3, 8—10 180 
 
 11,12 77 
 
 15 83 
 
 15,16 33 
 
 xxxiv. 1—8 333 
 
 xxxvi 237 
 
 xli. 2, 3, 8 379—383 
 
 — 5—7 256 
 
 — 14—16 381 
 
 — 17, 18 33 
 
 xlii. 8—13 282 
 
 xliv. 15—20 81 
 
 17—26 255 
 
 xlv. 18 401 
 
 xlvii. 9—12 84 
 
 xlviii. 2 128 
 
 20 385 
 
 xlix. 6 (Preface) . . xxxiii 
 
 li. 12 357 
 
 lii. 1 128 
 
 — 11 385 
 
 liii. 3—12 (Preface) xlv 
 
 — 9 291 
 
 liv. 7 (Preface) x 
 
 — 7 195 
 
 Iv. 3 351 
 
 hi. 7 352 
 
 Ivii. 1, 2 313 
 
 — 3 84, 86 
 
 Ivii. 5 81 
 
 Page. 
 Isaiab lix. 7 83 
 
 — 9, 10 34 
 
 — 16—18 351 
 
 — 19 121 
 
 — 20 276 
 
 Ix. 6,7,9,11, 13,17 175 
 Ixiii 333 
 
 — 3,4 330 
 
 — 8 292 
 
 Ixv. 1 (Preface) . . xxxiii 
 Ixvi. 6—8 363 
 
 Jeremiah i. 14 — 16 .... 63 
 
 ii. 21 327 
 
 iii. 16, 17 .... 184 
 iv. 23— 26.. 400,401 
 V 144 
 
 — 14 139 
 
 vi. 1 63 
 
 viii. 3 49 
 
 — 6 79 
 
 — 17 48 
 
 ix. 1 107 
 
 — 2 30, 86 
 
 — 4 31 
 
 — 7 31 
 
 — 9 31 
 
 — 10,12 32 
 
 — 15 30 
 
 X. 7 348 
 
 xiii.l6 161 
 
 — 17 107 
 
 xiv. 3—6 21 
 
 — 17 107 
 
 XV. 1 359 
 
 xvii. 16 (Preface) xlvi 
 
 and xlvii 
 
 xxiii, 10 86 
 
 XXV. 26 63 
 
 29—33 .. 95 
 
 30 330 
 
 31 9 
 
 XXX. 11 35 
 
 xxxvii. 5 — 8 .... 67 
 
 11 66 
 
 xxxix, 1,2 66 
 
 xlviii, 25— 27 .. 202 
 1.4 385 
 
 — 8,28 385 
 
 li.6,45 385 
 
 — 7 305 
 
NDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 421 
 
 Page. 
 
 Jeremiah li. 19— 2:J 381 
 
 — 24 383 
 
 — 25 25 
 
 — 31,32 384 
 
 lii. 4 OG 
 
 — 4—0 67 
 
 Lam. i. 15 328 
 
 — 21,22 328 
 
 iii. 44 359 
 
 Ezekielii. 8, 10 106 
 
 iii. 1—3 106 
 
 iv.l— 8 67 
 
 — 8 65 
 
 V. 1, 2 77 
 
 — 11, 12 22 
 
 vii. 16 200 
 
 — 22 199 
 
 viii. 16 372 
 
 ix. 2 355 
 
 — 4 16,46 
 
 X. 2 17 
 
 xiii. 14,16 .. 157,158 
 
 xiv. J4 359 
 
 XX. 5, 15, 23 97 
 
 xxxviii. 4, 7 — 1 7 . . 70 
 
 19,20.157,397 
 
 22 307 
 
 xxxix. 9—] J 332 
 
 17—20 .... 332 
 
 xl. 2 (Preface) .. xlv 
 
 — 3,5 122 
 
 xliii. 2 279 
 
 Daniel ii 256 
 
 iii. 1 272 
 
 — 7 240 
 
 iv. 16 130 
 
 vi. 4 292 
 
 vii 225 
 
 — 4—6 191 
 
 — 8 236 
 
 -11,12 .... 226,227 
 
 — 21 240 
 
 — 25.128,129,217,238 
 
 — 27 295,378 
 
 vii.— xi 231 
 
 viii. 10 ; 193 
 
 ix. 24 128 
 
 — 26 179 
 
 — 27 130 
 
 PKge. 
 
 Daniel x. 5 355 
 
 xi 199,257 
 
 — 36 237 
 
 — 44 384 
 
 xii. 1 204 
 
 — 4—9 97 
 
 — 5—7 100 
 
 — 7 217 
 
 — 13 314 
 
 XXX. 31 199 
 
 Hoseai.ll 333,385 
 
 vii. 4 86 
 
 xi. 10 94 
 
 xiii. 7, 8 228 
 
 Joel i. 6 50 
 
 — 15—20 21 
 
 ii. 1 12,37 
 
 — 2—5 72, 73 
 
 — 2,10 35 
 
 — 8, 10 74 
 
 — 20 63 
 
 — 30 19 
 
 — 31 374 
 
 — 32 276 
 
 iii. 2 389 
 
 — 12—14 329 
 
 — 13, 14 324 
 
 Amos i. 2 94 
 
 iii. 4, 8 94 
 
 viii. 9 34 
 
 Obadiah 17, 21 277 
 
 Jonahiii. 5,6 136 
 
 Micah iv. 8 102 
 
 — 11-18 94 
 
 V. 8 94 
 
 vii. 2 83 
 
 — 5, 6 31 
 
 — 16 9 
 
 — 20 348 
 
 N ahum iii. 2 61 
 
 Habakkuk i. 6— 11 .... 63 
 
 ii 236 
 
 — 11 157 
 
 — 19 258 
 
 — 20 10 
 
 iii. 17, 18 ... . 21 
 
 Zephauiah i. 7 10 
 
 ii. 8 202 
 
 iii. 8 389 
 
 — 13 291 
 
422 
 
 INDEX OF TB:XTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Haggai ii. 0, 7 397 
 
 — 7 174 
 
 Zechariah i. 12—16 90 
 
 — U— 17.. 110, 111 
 ii. 1—4.. 111,112,122 
 
 — 6,7 385 
 
 — 13 10 
 
 iii. 1,2 207 
 
 iv 92 
 
 — 1—6 112 
 
 — 12,14 113 
 
 V 92, 303 
 
 — 4 86 
 
 — 5—11.. 115,302 
 
 ix. 9—15 94 
 
 X. 11 376 
 
 xii — xiv 71 
 
 xiii. 1—6 261 
 
 — 4 137 
 
 — 8 77, 243 
 
 xiv 73 
 
 — 2 243, 385 
 
 — 4 277, 398 
 
 — 16 352 
 
 Malaclii iii. 5 85, 86 
 
 iv. 1, 2 322 
 
 — 4 123, 220 
 
 Apocrypha. 
 2 Esilras xiii, 40—47 378 
 
 Matthew iv. 5 128 
 
 vi. 7 312 
 
 — 24 265 
 
 vU. 15 248 
 
 viii. 12 320 
 
 X. 1 82 
 
 — 22, 23 290 
 
 — 34—39 31 
 
 xii. 22—45 .... 80 
 
 — 43—45 .... 262 
 xiii. 29, 39 .... 318 
 
 — 33 302 
 
 — 41,42 .... 321 
 
 — 43 324, 325 
 
 — 49 321 
 
 xvi. 24 139 
 
 xvii. 18 195 
 
 xix. 28 (Preface) xxx 
 xxi. 21 ,22 . . 24, 25 
 
 Page. 
 Matthew xxi. 25 166 
 
 — 43 (Preface) xxxiv 
 xxii.l2 390 
 
 — 34 195 
 
 xxiii. 37—39 . . 136 
 
 xxiv.3 318 
 
 7 366 
 
 10 83 
 
 13, 14 ... . 295 
 
 15, 16 120 
 
 24 247 
 
 30 316 
 
 31 323 
 
 38 86 
 
 XXV. 31 307 
 
 34 241 
 
 35—40 . . 201 
 
 xxvi 24 308 
 
 37—45 . . 391 
 
 xxvii. 25 6J 
 
 53 128 
 
 xxviii. 2 153 
 
 Mark iv. 29 168 
 
 — 37—41 195 
 
 vi. 7 82 
 
 — 14—28 190 
 
 ix. 25, 26 386 
 
 xiii. 32 (Preface) xxxvi 
 xvi. 1—9 289 
 
 — 19 196 
 
 Luke i 8—10 15, 16 
 
 — 39,80 200 
 
 — 72, 73 347 
 
 ii. 25, 38 189 
 
 iv. 6, 7 229 
 
 — 25 140 
 
 — 28, 29 194 
 
 viii. 31 42 
 
 — 33 46 
 
 — 55 149 
 
 ix. 26 265 
 
 — 49,54,55 ( Preface) xlviii 
 
 — 54 250 
 
 X. 17 40,82 
 
 xiii. 31—38 134 
 
 — 34, 35 130 
 
 xvi. 16 124 
 
 xvii. 24,26,30 (Preface) xliv 
 xviii. 8 310 
 
 39 195 
 
INI)P:X ()¥ TEXTS. 
 
 4J^S 
 
 Page. 
 
 Lukexix. U 173 
 
 xxi. 21, 22 199 
 
 — 24 128, 129 
 
 — 26 37 
 
 — 27 310 
 
 — 34—36 390 
 
 xxiv. 26 (Preface) . . xxxii 
 
 John i. 47 291 
 
 iii. 19 147 
 
 V. 22 317, 318 
 
 — 43 130 
 
 vi. ")2— 63 109 
 
 — 53 108 
 
 viii. 23 56 
 
 — 44 191,206 
 
 ix.24 162 
 
 xii. 16 (Preface) .... vi 
 
 — 19 235 
 
 — 23, 24 350 
 
 — 28 151 
 
 — 28, 29 96 
 
 — 30 ( Preface ) xliii 
 
 — 31 . 41 
 
 — 41 (Preface) xlvi 
 
 xiii. 19 (Preface) .. vii 
 xiv. 29 (Preface) .... vi 
 
 xvii. 5, 24 241 
 
 xviii. 36 166 
 
 xix. 11 240 
 
 xxi. 7 391 
 
 — 21—23 117 
 
 — 22, 23 (Preface) .'. 1 
 Acts i. 6 (Preface) .... xxxiv 
 
 — 9, 10, 11.. 152, 153,196 
 ii. 1 289 
 
 — 33 196 
 
 — 46 120 
 
 iii. 1 125 
 
 — 19,21 289 
 
 — 21 102,196 
 
 iv. 25—28 174 
 
 — 27 195 
 
 v. 11 151 
 
 vii. 56 313 
 
 ix. 6 (Preface) . . xxxvii 
 Xi. 18 (Preface) .. xxxiii 
 xiii, 47 (Preface) . . xxxiii 
 xiv. 13, 17 301 
 
 — 26,40 J 68 
 
 xvi. 2(5 153 
 
 Page. 
 
 xvii. 22 82 
 
 22—31 300 
 
 xxi. 17—26 125 
 
 xxii. 10 (Preface) . . xxxvii 
 
 xxvi.l5,16(Preface)xxxvii 
 
 Romans i. 1, 2 (Preface) . . xxx 
 
 ii.5— 11 403 
 
 — 9,10 362 
 
 iv. 17 173 
 
 viii. 19— 22 .... 175 
 
 — 23 274 
 
 x. 7 54 
 
 xi.2, 3 60 
 
 — 25 102 
 
 — 26 277 
 
 xvi. 20 204 
 
 — 25,20 ( Preface ) xxx 
 ICor. iii,16, 17 127 
 
 iv. 3 (Preface) xlvi 
 
 V. 3 (Preface) xlvi 
 
 — 5 38 
 
 vi. 2 356 
 
 — 19 127 
 
 X. 20 82 
 
 — 32 403 
 
 xi. 14, 15 50 
 
 — 23 (Preface) . . xxxviii 
 
 xii.3 253 
 
 xiv. 3 133 
 
 XV. 20 289 
 
 — 24.25,28.... 167,168 
 
 — 5], 52 164 
 
 2 Cor. V. 8 313 
 
 Galatians i. 8 253 
 
 i.l 1-17 (Preface) xxx vi 
 ii. 1,2 (Preface) xxxix 
 
 — 12,16 (Preface) xl 
 
 — 20 310 
 
 Eplu-sians i. 4 241 
 
 — 22, 23 .... 349 
 
 ii. 2 394 
 
 iii.4,5,9(Preface) xxx 
 
 — 9 198,221 
 
 — 9,10 319 
 
 vi.l2 .. 191,204,394 
 
 — 13 214 
 
 — 17 211 
 
 Coloss. i. 26 (Preface) . . xxx 
 
 — 25,26 (Preface) xxxii 
 
 — 25-27 (Preface) xxxviii 
 
4^1 
 
 INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Coloss. ii. 3 272 
 
 — 5 (Preface) ... xlvi 
 
 iii.5 268 
 
 1 Thess. iv. 14 391 
 
 — IG 1G4 
 
 V. 3 (Preface) . . xlvii 
 
 — 8, 9 209 
 
 — 9, 10 391 
 
 2 Thess. ii 274 
 
 — 2 255 
 
 — 3 229 
 
 — 4 . . 127, 237, 241 
 
 — 6, 7 223 
 
 — 8 238 
 
 — 9, 10 228 
 
 — 9—12 252 
 
 — 11 87 
 
 — 11, 12 375 
 
 1 Tim. iv. 1 388 
 
 iv. 1—3 80 
 
 2 Timothy ii. 12 319 
 
 iii. 2 208 
 
 — 3,4 291 
 
 — 13 84 
 
 Hebrews 3 190 
 
 i. 14 205 
 
 ii. 14 239 
 
 viii. 2—5 182 
 
 Page. 
 Hebrews xi. 9, 10 380 
 
 — 28 46 
 
 xii. 2 310 
 
 — 21 357 
 
 xiii. 11, 12 .... 331 
 
 James i. 1, 18 290 
 
 — 5 270 
 
 iii. 14 (Preface) .. xlviii 
 
 iv. 13—15 269 
 
 V. ]— 3 269 
 
 — 4 87 
 
 — 17 60,141 
 
 1 Peter i. 11 (Preface) .... xlii 
 
 — 11, 12 (Preface) xxx 
 
 — 13 391 
 
 ii 9 (Preface) . . xxxiv 
 iv. 14 312 
 
 2 Peter ii. 1 388 
 
 — 4 43,206 
 
 — 10—18 85 
 
 — 14,15 87 
 
 iii. 10 181 
 
 1 John ii. 15 269 
 
 iv 1—6 253 
 
 Jude 4—8 85 
 
 6 43, 200 
 
 9 204 
 
 11 87 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 73, line 4 ; for, " continued," read, " combined." 
 
 132, last line ; for, " be," read, " act.*' 
 
 IM, line 16 ; for, "sixth vial," read, " seventh vial." 
 
 172, note ; for, " 1 48— 150," read, " 248—253, 257—202."' 
 
 180, line S ; after, " myself," read, " Isaiah xxxiii. 8—10. 
 
 184, line 27 ; for, " capitol," read, " capital.'' 
 
 203, line 3 ; for, " prophecy," read " prophesy." 
 
 250, line 13; for, " failing,' read, " failure." 
 
 203, line 26 ; for, " glorified," read," gloried." 
 
 288, line 25 ; for, " Jer. iv. 22,'' read, " Jer. xxxi. 9." 
 
 T. WILSHER, PBINTER, MANOR STRKICT, CHELSEA. 
 
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